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Supreme Court serves notice to Kerala Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church for mandatory forced confessions
The Supreme Court on Monday issued a notice in response to a plea filed against the unconstitutional practice of mandatory and forced confessions in the Kerala Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church involving exploitation of both men and women.
The three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice of India Justice S.A. Bobde, Justices A.S. Bopanna and V. Ramasubramanian heard the plea, relying on several newspaper reports wherein priests have sexually exploited women parishioners after forcing them to confess and have also used their confessions to blackmail their spouses/parents.
Updated Dec 14, 2020 · 04:34 pm A file photo of Supreme Court of India. | AFP
The Supreme Court on Monday issued notice on a petition challenging the alleged practice of mandatory and forced confessions in Kerala’s Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church,
Live Law reported.
The petitioners, Mathew Mathachan and CV Jose, argued that the practice of undergoing “sacramental confession” before a priest affects human dignity and liberty of thought. They said believers have been forced to not speak against it out of fear of removal from parish membership and ostracisation.
A bench headed by Chief Justice SA Bobde had first asked advocate Sanjay Parekh to approach the High Court. However, Parekh cited Supreme Court’s September 2019 order after the KS Varghese case, prohibiting all civil courts and High Courts in Kerala from passing any judgement in violation of the mandate.