Madras High Court upholds lighting of Karthigai Deepam at Thiruparankundram; setback for TN govt

CHENNAI: The Madras High Court has upheld a single bench order permitting the lighting of the Karthigai Deepam on a stone pillar at Thiruparankundram hill in Madurai. The ruling, delivered on Tuesday by the Madurai Bench of the High Court, goes against the stand taken by the DMK-led Tamil Nadu government.

A division bench comprising Justice G. Jayachandran and Justice K.K. Ramakrishnan ruled that the single bench order cannot be blocked under the principle of res judicata.

The case relates to the lighting of the Karthigai Deepam on a stone pillar located near the Sikandar Badusha Dargah atop Thiruparankundram hill, a site regarded as sacred by both Hindu and Muslim devotees. The state government had opposed the move, citing concerns over law and order and disputes over ownership of the site.

However, the court upheld an earlier order passed by Justice G.R. Swaminathan, which had granted permission to light the lamp on the occasion of Thirukarthigai. The bench observed that neither the state government nor the appellants, including the Dargah authorities, were able to produce any evidence from religious texts to prove that lighting a lamp at the site was prohibited.

Rejecting the state’s objections, the court said the claim that allowing temple representatives to light a lamp on the stone pillar on one specific day of the year would disturb public peace was “ridiculous and difficult to believe.”