Kerala High Court judge gets life threat over church tussle order

The power tussle between Orthodox and Jacobite factions of the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church in Kerala turns ugly as a judge of the Kerala High Court was threatened to be "burnt alive" after he ordered control of one of the disputed churches to the Orthodox faction.

Justice P B Suresh Kumar himself revealed while considering the case on Tuesday that he received the threatening letter. The High Court registrar handed over the letter to the police for investigation.

The High Court had earlier ordered the district administration and police to implement the order to take over the St Thomas Church at Kothamangalam in Ernakulam district and hand it over it to the Orthodox faction. But the district administration and police had to withdraw from attempts to take over the church owing to stiff protest from believers of the Jacobite faction.

The High Court also pulled up Ernakulam district collector for not implementing the order citing protest by a section of believers. The court said he would not even mind being burnt alive. But the court order needs to be implemented. The court also warned that legal actions could be taken against the collector for not implementing the order. Even the service of central forces could be sought if the police could not manage the protesters.

Even as the district administration tried to take over the church a couple of months back using a heavy police force, it suffered strong resistance from the believers of the Jacobite faction. Some even reportedly made suicide threats.

After a long legal battle, the Supreme Court had ruled that the Orthodox faction should be given control over 1,100-odd churches in Kerala.