Thiruparankundram hill lamp lighting case: SC dismisses Tamil Nadu government’s appeal.
Tamil Nadu: The Madurai Bench of the Chennai High Court on Thursday dismissed the Tamil Nadu government’s appeal against an order by a High Court judge directing the lighting of the Karthigai Maha Deepam on the hilltop of Tirupparankundram.
Rama Ravikumar, a resident of Eagumalai in Madurai, had filed a case in the Madurai Bench of the Chennai High Court seeking an order to light the Karthigai Deepam on the hilltop of Tirupparankundram.
Justice G.R. Swaminathan, who heard the case, personally visited and inspected the Tirupparankundram hill. Following this, he directed the temple administration and the dargah administration to file a petition.
After hearing arguments from all sides, Justice G.R. Swaminathan, last Monday, ordered that the Karthigai Maha Deepam should be lit at Tirupparankundram and at the usual places on the hilltop.
An appeal against this order was filed by the government in the Madurai Bench of the Chennai High Court on Tuesday.
In this situation, the Deepa Karthigai festival was not celebrated on the hilltop of Tirupparankundram on Wednesday. As in previous years, the Karthigai Deepam was lit in the Uchchipillaiyar temple hall.
Meanwhile, a petition was filed in the High Court by Rama Ravikumar seeking contempt of court proceedings against the temple administration and the police department for not complying with the court order. This petition was accepted for hearing by Justice G.R. Swaminathan after 6:05 pm on Wednesday.
At the end of the hearing, Justice G.R. Swaminathan ordered that 10 people, including the petitioner Ravikumar, could go to the pillar on the hilltop of Tirupparankundram under the protection of the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) and light the lamp.
Meanwhile, District Magistrate K.J. Praveen Kumar issued prohibitory orders under Section 144 in the Tirupparankundram area. Following this, City Police Commissioner J. Security was heightened under the leadership of Loganathan. On Wednesday night, around 8 pm, Ram Ravikumar and others, who were attempting to reach the top of the Tiruparankundram hill under the protection of CISF personnel as per the High Court order, were stopped and sent back by the police. The police stated that they could not be allowed to proceed as Section 144 was in effect there.
In this situation, the appeal filed by the Tamil Nadu government was heard on Thursday morning by a bench of Justices G. Jayachandran and K.K. Ramachandran at the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court.
At that time, the government argued, ‘There was no opportunity given to appeal against the single judge’s order in the Tiruparankundram case. The petitioner was allowed to go to the hill and light the lamp under the protection of CISF personnel deployed for the High Court’s security, which was against the rules. Because of this, law and order and social harmony in Tiruparankundram were affected. What is the necessity of lighting the Maha Deepam at the lamp stand, a practice that has not been followed for 100 years?’
“The Dargah side stated that they were not given time to file additional information in the main case.”
The judges then intervened, stating that the temple administration had filed the appeal only 12 hours after the copy of the court order was uploaded. Why this delay? they questioned the government. Similarly, when there is a 30-day period to file an appeal, why was a petition seeking action against contempt of court filed? The judges also questioned the Ram Ravi Kumar side.
Furthermore, the judges opined that religious harmony does not lie in preventing someone from doing something. Religious harmony lies in allowing both sides to do what they want together. Following this, petitioner Ram Ravi Kumar stated, “The single judge had ordered the lighting of the lamp on the hilltop only after a proper inquiry. However, the temple administration and the police department did not comply with the court order. How can we trust the security of a police department that does not obey a court order? That is why the single judge ordered the security of CISF personnel.” After hearing arguments from all sides, the judges issued the following order on Thursday afternoon:
The single judge ordered that the petitioner himself could light the lamp since the government had not come forward to light the lamp on the Tirupparankundram hilltop as per the High Court order. It appears that the government filed the appeal with an ulterior motive. The single judge ordered CISF security because the state government failed to perform its duty. There appears to be no error in this. Therefore, the appeal of the Tamil Nadu government is dismissed, the judges said.
Furthermore, the judges also stated in their order that the previous case would be re-examined by Justice G.R. Swaminathan.
