HC upholds nod to light TN ceremonial lamp

THe Madurai bench of the Madras heights margaret court on th dismissed Tamil Nadu’s invoke thought-provoking the December 1 order which permitted devotees to light the Karthigai Deepam lamp at the Deepathoon, an ancient stone pillar atop the Thirupparankundram hillock.The division bench of justice G Jayachandran and KK Ramakrishnan dismissed the appeal, saying, “This court finds that the order in contempt was not one altering the earlier order of the court. When the court found its earlier order was not complied with, the court directed the petitioners to light the lamp. The appeal, filed with an ulterior motive, is dismissed.”With regard to the ongoing contempt proceedings against the state and district authorities, the latest hearing of which was held following the dismissal of the appeal, Justice G Swaminathan, who also gave the December 1 order, slammed the failure of the Subramania Swamy temple executive officer and the Madurai police commissioner to respond to summons as part of the proceedings, which began at 6.05pm on Wednesday after the Karthigai Deepam lamp was lit at the traditional venue of the Uchipiliyar temple mandapam on the same hill.After the officials concerned appeared via video conference, the court questioned them on their failure to implement the earlier order, after which city police commissioner J Loganathan said that he had the highest regard for the court order, and the devotees were not permitted only considering the prohibitory order passed by the district collector.Justice Swaminathan also quashed the prohibitory notification forbidding gatherings of more than five people at any place in the Thiruparakundram region, issued under Section 162 of the BNSS, by the district collector of Wednesday. He observed that the order was put in place simply as a means to circumvent the implementation of the December 1 order.Justice Swaminathan then directed the commissioner to allow the writ petitioners to proceed to the hilltop and light the lamp. The single bench will hear the matter further on December 5, to “verify compliance.”“ Article 261 requires full faith and credit to be given to judicial proceedings across India and ensures that final court orders are enforceable anywhere in the country. This means the local police must help implement a court’s order and cannot refuse to comply under any pretext,” Justice Swaminathan saidAfter the district administration failed to comply with the order, Justice Swaminathan had severely criticised the State for ignoring the Court’s directive and remarked that despite wielding “vast powers,” courts lacked the ability to ensure compliance when the executive failed to act.On Wednesday, the petitioner, Rama Ravikumar, accompanied by Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) personnel on court orders, attempted to ascend the hill to light the lamp. They were stopped by state police.Meanwhile, clashes erupted between a growing crowd of Hindu activists who gathered at the site to demand compliance with the December 1 order. A police officer was injured in the resultant clashes.Justice Swaminathan issued the fresh directions a day after he summoned the Madurai superintendent of police and the district collector for failing to follow the previous order. The court at the time had said that lighting of the lamp was part of Tamil culture that needed to be preserved and directed the district authorities to make adequate security arrangements.Speaking to reporters after Thursday’s hearing, lawyer representing petitioner Rama Ravikumar said no Muslim has raised any objection in the court on Thursday. “In 2005, the Dargah management committee itself wrote in a peace committee meeting that they had no objection to the lamp being lit within 15 metres,” added the petitioner’s counsel. He added that now that Justice Swaminathan’s order has been fully confirmed, the lamp will be lit in the Tamil month of Karthigai.Meanwhile, the state unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Thursday hailed the court’s dismissal of the appeal, even as the ruling Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) called it a “setback” for Hindus in the area.““I truly see this as a setback for the Hindu people living in Thiruparankundram. I see it as an action that goes against what those people have been following for ages,” said former MP and senior DMK leader TKS Elangovan. “When the police drove those outsiders (the petitioners) away, I saw them clapping and welcoming the move,” he added.The state BJP’s chief spokesperson, Narayan Thirupathy, however, hailed the order on social media, where he called it a “crushing blow to the Dravidian model of the Tamil Nadu government.”.