New Delhi: The Jacobite Syrian Christian Church informed the Supreme Court of India on Tuesday that the Bill prepared by Kerala Law Reforms Commission chaired by retired Justice KT Thomas on the church dispute with the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church is pending before the Kerala government and likely to be introduced in the Assembly in the ongoing session or the next one.

However, the Orthodox church rejected this argument and said the government has made it clear it does not intend to enact the bill. Meanwhile, government attorneys remained silent on the issue.

The court was considering the contempt of court plea filed by the Orthodox church alleging that the Kerala government was not implementing the 2017 verdict of the apex court. The verdict states that the control of more than 1,000 churches and parishes belonging to the faction can only be decided based on the constitution of the Malankara church made in 1934. It gave the Orthodox church complete authority over all the churches, even the ones previously controlled by Jacobites.

The dispute between the two factions dates back to 1912 when the Malankara church split and the Jacobite faction was born. The quarrel over the head of the church led to the split. Since then, all Supreme Court verdicts in the matter have favoured the Orthodox church.

However, implementing the 2017 verdict was not an easy task for Kerala thanks to the stringent opposition from the Jacobite faction. Both factions have previously resorted to violent measures. This time, there was no exception.

The Bill of Justice KT Thomas, aimed at resolving the law and order issue, calls for a referendum in each church to decide on its authority. While the Jacobites are approximately 12 lakh strong, the Orthodox have more than double that number. However, if the Bill is enacted, it would still lose a number of churches to the Jacobites.

The Orthodox church urged the Supreme Court to move ahead with the contempt of court plea. The court has set the next hearing for March 14.