In Brief
This landmark judgment addresses the perpetual dispute between the Patriarch and Catholicos factions of the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church over control of Parish Churches. The Supreme Court upheld the validity and binding nature of the 1934 Constitution governing church administration. It held that the appointment of Vicars is a secular administrative matter, not a spiritual one, and must be done by the Diocesan Metropolitan as per the Constitution, not by the Patriarch. The Patriarch's power has reduced to a vanishing point due to the 1912 revival of the Catholicate. The Court rejected arguments that Parish Churches could adopt a separate 2002 Constitution, holding that church property is held in perpetual trust and cannot be usurped even by majority vote. Individual Parishioners may believe in the Patriarch's spiritual supremacy, but this does not authorize parallel church administration systems in violation of the binding 1934 Constitution.
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