The Kerala High Court has directed the state police chief to ensure that Patriarch of Antioch Ignatius Aphrem II complies with Supreme Court rulings, subsequent court clarifications and the conditions of his Indian visa during his visit to Kerala.
Justice P V Kunhikrishnan issued the interim order on a petition filed by V V Mathew of Manarcadu and two others. The petitioners sought directions to the state government and police to prevent the patriarch, who heads the Jacobite faction, from conducting religious activities at churches belonging to the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church.
The petition specifically referred to a request to stop the patriarch from celebrating Holy Qurbana at St Mary’s Church, Manarcadu, or at any other church under the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church. The dispute between the Orthodox and Jacobite factions has been shaped by Supreme Court judgments, including the ruling in the K S Varghese case, and by the 1934 Constitution of the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church.
According to the petitioners, the Supreme Court had held that the Patriarch of Antioch could not interfere in the administration of parish churches by appointing vicars, priests, deacons or prelates in violation of the church constitution. The High Court also took note of the additional advocate general’s submission that later High Court judgments had clarified the scope of the relevant decrees. It directed the police chief to consider those judgments while implementing the interim direction.
The court’s order also covers the patriarch’s visa conditions. Ignatius Aphrem II, a Syrian citizen, entered India on an X-Miscellaneous Entry Visa. The petitioners argued that the visa does not permit a foreign national to undertake preaching, proselytisation or organised religious or missionary programmes in India.
The patriarch arrived in Kerala on November 11 as a state guest and was scheduled to return on November 16. The High Court’s direction places responsibility on the state police chief to monitor compliance with both the judicial rulings governing the church dispute and the restrictions attached to the visa.
During the hearing, the bench also expressed displeasure over the alleged treatment of a special messenger sent to serve notice in the case. According to the messenger’s report, he reached the patriarch centre at Puthencruz but was allegedly threatened by certain office-bearers, who told him that a case would be registered against him and asked him to leave without serving the notice.
After examining the report, the court directed the High Court registry to forward the special messenger’s complaint to the station house officer of the jurisdictional police station. The petition has been posted for further hearing on November 23.
