Madras HC invalidates CSI church amendment, paves way for retirement of bishop Dharmaraj Rasalam

Chennai: In a major setback to bishop A Dharmaraj Rasalam, the Madras High Court (HC) nullified raising the retirement age of priests and bishops of the Church of South India (a Protestant Church). With this, Rasalam, an influential prelate who is the church moderator in-charge of the five southern states and Sri Lanka, is set to retire.

The tenure of Rasalam as moderator ended in January 2023. Though he was turning 67 in May and scheduled to retire according to the church constitution, he was reelected. The church synod council amended the constitution to raise the retirement age from 67 to 70, a move allegedly initiated by Rasalam to ensure his continuation. The moderator is considered to be the head of the church faction.

A section of the laity was against this, who challenged it in the court.

“Unconstitutional amendment”

Justice Senthilkumar Ramamoorthy considered the petitions filed by former CSI secretaries, D Lawrence, Dr Rose Bist, Sam Hanoch and Adv. Sarjin Thomas together.

To pass a constitutional amendment, the support of two-thirds of synod council members and approval of two-thirds of the 24 diocese councils are required. The petitioners argued that the amendment was passed stating the approval of the metropolitan bishops instead of the councils. The HC accepted the argument that this was unconstitutional. The HC has also invalidated the other 19 amendments passed by the synod council.

The Chennai-headquartered CSI church, with an estimated 60 lakh churchgoers, is spread across the states of Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, and Telangana and also in Sri Lanka.

The petitioner and former secretary of the CSI South Kerala Diocese, D Lawrence said that he would continue his struggle against the “erosion of moral values” in the synod and the diocese.

Laity vs clergy

The Madras HC verdict that comes as a culmination of years of confrontation and legal battles will prove to be a turning point for the CSI church. It is estimated that five bishops, including the moderator Rasalam and several priests in the diocese will lose their administrative positions on an immediate basis as well as in the near future owing to this judgement.

To continue in office, the office holders will need to be granted a stay against the single bench order. Moderator bishop Rasalam and Karnataka Central Diocese bishop PK Samuel have completed 67 years as of now. 

The laity in Karnataka had already moved to the court regarding the amendments made by the current church leadership and won a favourable verdict. 

For a long while now, the church leadership, a section of the priests and the laity have been in conflict with each other over the management of church institutions and general administration. 

New moderator

As far as the imminent vacancy of the church’s moderator is concerned, the deputy moderator will be temporarily given charge.

The HC has appointed a retired judge to supervise the election for the post. Meanwhile, the current leadership may make use of legal possibilities to continue in office. This will only lead to confrontation between the already divided opinions of the church and its laity.