- (1.) When Lord Jesus Christ was asked by a young man who was possessed of property what was the road to heaven, the Holy Bible records it in Ch. 19 of the New Testament the Gospel According to St. Mathew thus: "16.And, behold, one came and said unto him. Good Master, what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life 17. And he said unto him. Why callest thou me good there is none good but one, that is, God: but if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments. 18. He saith unto him. Which Jesus said. Thou shalt do no murder, Thou shalt not commit adultery. Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness. 19. Honour thy father and thy mother: and, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. 20. The young man saith unto him. All these things have I kept from my youth up: what lack I yet 21. Jesus said unto him, if thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me. 22. But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful: for he had great possessions. " Turning "away sorrowful", is the long and short of this litigation between two rival groups of Jacobite Christian community of Malabar which has been going on for more than hundred years apparently for religious and spiritual supremacy over the Church but really for administrative control and temporal powers over vast assets which have accumulated out of 3000 Star Pagodas created in Trust in 1808 for charitable purposes by one Moran Mar Marthoma VI popularly called "dionysius the Great". This is the third round between the parties in this court, the two earlier ones being in 1954 and 1959. While deciding the appeal in 1959 this court had observed that the dispute had been going on for a considerable length of time which has brought in its train protracted litigation involving ruinous costs. The effect of the decision was that for sometime both the parties resolved their differences by mutual adjustment, but "Those who hoped fondly, as events have proved that the decision of the Supreme court in Moran Mar Basselios Catholicos v. Thukalan Paulo Avira and the reported reconciliation following upon that decision would give the quietus to the litigation, prolific, prolonged and ruinous, arising out of the faction in the Malankara Jacobite Syrian Church between what is known as the Patriarch's Party on the one hand and what is known as the Catholicos' Party on the other, counted without the resourcefulness of those entrenched in and of those covetous of positions of power, and we dare say, of profit, and of those who, for one reason or another, have a vested interest in the continuance of the dispute. "
(2.) How the much negotiated peace and quiet arrived at by written adjustments worked out by issuing letters from both the groups was shaken even before expiry of 15 years since the judgment was delivered by this court in September 1958 and what led to filing of numerous suits eight of which were consolidated by the Additional District Judge but were heard and decided by a learned Single Judge of the High court, as they were transferred under orders of this court, and were ultimately decided in appeal and cross-objections by the division bench giving rise to these appeals and various legal issues including whether the suit under Section 9 of the Code of Civil Procedure was maintainable, effect of Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act, 1991 and whether the decision in earlier suit filed by the appellants operated as res judicata can be, better appreciated if the history how the Malankara Church came to be established, what is its nature and how the two groups Patriarch of Antioch and Catholicos came to be formed leading to internecine struggle and litigation may be noticed in brief. The adversarial duel between the two rival groups has assumed so much of publicity that it has found place even in the Encyclopaedia of Religion. It may be prefaced with brief observations about the Christian religion and the Church.
(3.) Religion is founded on faith and belief. Faith emanates from conscience and belief is result of teaching and learning. Christianity is "a religion that traces its origins to Jesus of Nazareth, whom it affirms to be the chosen one (Christ) of God" (Encyclopaedia Britannica, Vol. 5, p. 693. "it is embodied both in its principles and precepts in the scriptures of the Old and New Testaments, which all denominations of Christians believe to be a Divine revelation, and the only rule of faith and obedience" (Faiths of the World, by James Gardner, Vol. I, p. 516. It is "a historical religion. It locates within the events of human history both the redemption it promises, and the revelation to which it lays claim" (Encyclopaedia of Religion, Vol. 3, p. 348. "in its origin Christianity is Eastern rather than Western. Jesus was a Palestinian Jew, and during the early, formative centuries of the Church's life the Greek and Syriac East was both numerically stronger and intellectually more creative than the Latin West. Christianity came to India many centuries before it reached Europe as it is believed that St. Thomas, one of the original apostles of Jesus Christ, visited India in 56 AD and founded the first Christian settlement in the South" (Religion in India by Dr Karan Singh). In AD 37 Apostolic See at Antioch was established by St. Peter to whom the stewardship of Church was entrusted by Lord Jesus Christ. 'it took root in Kerala within 20 years of the epoch-making events in Jerusalem, the crucifixion, resurrection and ascension of Lord Jesus Christ. St. Thomas, one of the 12 apostles of Jesus Christ visited India in AD 51-52 and established 7 Churches in the Malayalam-peaking parts of South India. They are known as Malankara Jacobite (or orthodox) Syrian Church, 'malankara' means "malayalam speaking". "The two Syrian Orthodox Churches in Syria and India, along with the Egyptian (Coptic) , Ethiopian and Armenian Churches, belong to the group of Ancient, or Oriental Orthodox Churches, wrongly called 'monophysite'. Their Christology is essentially the same as that of the Eastern Orthodox related to the patriarchate of Constantinople. They affirm the perfect humanity as well as the perfect divinity of Christ, inseparably and 301 unconfusedly united in the divine-human nature of the person of Christ". [encyclopaedia of Religion, Vol. 14, p. 227];