Shillong: The Meghalaya High Court tossed out orders from the East Khasi Hills Deputy Commissioner that restricted pastoral care and religious rites at the Mawkhar Presbyterian Church. Justice Hamarsan Singh Thangkhiew ruled on Tuesday that the local administration overstepped its legal boundaries by meddling in ecclesiastical jurisdiction.
The court scrapped a May 13 show-cause notice and two June 19 orders that blocked the KJP Synod Mihngi from providing pastoral care or administering Holy Sacraments. It also dismissed parts of a May 8 communication and March 12 meeting minutes that placed a blanket ban on internal church functions. The state has a duty to stop violence, but the court ruled that administrative power cannot decide civil or religious rights.
Justice Thangkhiew noted that the Deputy Commissioner lacked the authority to interpret the Constitution of the Presbyterian Church of India to settle internal disputes. The court acknowledged the discord but made it clear that officials cannot turn peace-keeping measures into a private legal ruling. "The State, the court said, has the duty to prevent an actual or reasonably apprehended breach of peace."
The ruling leaves major questions unresolved, including the February 1 resolution to split from the KJP Synod Sepngi and competing claims over church management. Tbn. Geraldton Pakma, the church secretary, filed the petition, which the court partially allowed. Both sides must now keep the peace and seek solutions through proper civil or ecclesiastical channels.
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