Indian bishop wins court case: CEN 6.26.09 p 6. June 30, 2009
Posted by geoconger in Church of England Newspaper, Church of South India.trackback
An Indian appeals court has overruled the Moderator of the Church of South India (CSI), and ordered the church to permit the Bishop of Madras, Dr. V. Devasagayam, to serve until he reaches the retirement age of 65.
On June 19 the court dismissed a lawsuit brought by lay members of the diocese seeking the early retirement of the bishop. In May the Madras Supreme Court asked the Standing Committee of the CSI to advise it on the pertinent canon law governing the tenure of bishops.
In a response filed on June 8, the Moderator of the CSI, Dr. John Gladstone said the church supported the lay petition and had dismissed the bishop. However, in his opinion, Justice K. Chandru said Bishop Devasagayam was entitled to serve as bishop until he reached the age of 65.
The court held that the CSI was a voluntary association under Indian law and was governed by its by-laws, or canons. Actions taken outside the parameters of the canons were ultra vires, or without legal foundation. No group or individual within the CSI could curtail, annul, amend or modify the canons, except in accordance with the terms of canon law.
The CSI’s decision to remove the bishop as a “manifest illegality”, the court held, as the diocese was bound to act “strictly as per the rules.”
The church was free to seek to remove the bishop for cause, under the procedures set down by canon law the judge said, but could not construe the plain language of a retirement age of 65 against its natural meaning to serve a short political goal.
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