(1.) This suit, together with an execution petition which turns upon it, was brought by the Reverend Gonsalves, Vicar of the Roman Catholic parish church at Kalianpur for arrears of rent due by tenants of Church property. The only defence with which we are concerned is the defence that the plaintiff was not entitled to sue, as his appointment as manager or moktessor of the church property was not a valid one. The vicar was appointed by the Bishop upon the 14th November 1914, and the facts leading up to the appointment were these: The temporal affairs of the church were ordinarily administered by a body known as the junta composed of the heads of houses in the village. This body has been in existence for something like 30 years and has claimed and exercised the right to appoint the moktessor. The last moktessor appointed by the junta was a Mr. Louis who resigned bis appointment in 1913. Attempts were then made to get the junta to appoint a successor, but the meeting held was so disorderly that no valid appointment could be made, and the vicar so informed the bishop. The bishop thereupon appointed the vicar to the office of moktessor pending further arrangements. In that capacity he brought this suit and the validity of his appointment is challenged.
(2.) The plaintiff puts his case at its highest on this broad ground : This church is part of the universal Catholic church and is bound by its laws, that is to say by the Canon Law, and it is an unquestioned tenet of the Canon Law that the temporalities of the church vest in the Pope whose authority may be regarded as delegated to the Bishops to the extent of their several dioceses. On this view any further delegation of his complete authority over the church property by the Bishop is merely permissive and can be resumed by him at will.
(3.) On the other side it was argued that the authority of the Canon Law is confined to the spiritual side and could not affect rights of property or kindred rights in the temporal possessions of the church which would be governed by the law of the land as administered by the courts.