Two High Court benches Recuse from Hearing

Two division benches of the Kerala HC refused to hear an appeal filed by the state govt against a single judge’s verdict in the Kothamangalam Cheriyapally case. The petition challenges the single judge order directing the Collector to take over the church , its precincts & movable properties, & hand them over to the vicar of the Orthodox faction.When the appeal came up in the morning session before the division bench -- consisting of Chief Justice S Manikumar & Justice Shaji P Chaly, it recused itself from hearing the appeal. 

Later, the matter was posted before the bench comprising Justice C K Abdul Rehim & Justice T V Anilkumar. However, they too refused to hear the case.The govt in its appeal said the directive was in conflict with the Sureme Court judgment in the K S Varghese case. The Supreme court had held that the church & cemetery couldn't be confiscated by anybody. In fact, the single judge failed to consider its submission that in order to implement the Supreme Court judgment, it was necessary to identify those persons who were parishioners & who continued to have faith in the Malankara church.

 It wasn't possible to remove anyone from the church & cemetery before identifying the parishioners. 

It was very probable that a law & order situation might arise if the Orthodox faction was allowed to enter the church, before properly identifying the persons entitled to participate in the, stated in the appeal.

Source Link