Chennai
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The Tamil Nadu government has moved the Supreme Court against Madras High Court orders permitting the lighting of the Karthigai Deepam at a stone pillar near a dargah atop the Thirupparankundram hill in Madurai, reviving the dispute that has been the subject of months of litigation and political debate in the State.
The Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam government filed a Special Leave Petition before the Apex Court on June 11, shortly after the government led by Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay assumed office.
The State has challenged both the original order passed in December last year, by single judge Justice GR Swaminathan, permitting the lighting of the lamp at the ‘deepathoon’ (stone lamp pillar) on the hill, and a January 6, 2026 order of a division bench of the High Court, which upheld the single bench order.
The case concerns the right of devotees to light the ‘Karthigai Deepam,’ the traditional temple lamp at a stone pillar located about 50 metres from a dargah on the Thirupparankundram hill. A group of devotees had moved the Madras High Court last year claiming the local police was preventing them from lighting the lamp even though they had traditionally worshiped at the site. They had argued that preventing the ritual infringed their religious rights.
The DMK party that governed Tamil Nadu at the time, had opposed the plea through the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Department, saying that permitting the ritual could lead to law and order problems.
In a series of orders passed between December 1 and 9 that year, Justice Swaminathan had rejected those concerns and held that the rights of the dargah were not affected by the ritual. He had also dismissed the State’s apprehensions as an “imaginary ghost,” remarking that disturbances would occur only if they were “sponsored by the State itself”.
The litigation had escalated when devotees initiated contempt proceedings after authorities failed to implement the order.
The High Court had permitted a group of devotees to light the lamp and directed the CISF to provide protection. When the district administration imposed prohibitory orders under Section 144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, the single bench quashed them, saying that they had been issued to circumvent its directions.
On January 6 this year, a division bench of the High Court upheld the single judge’s ruling and held that the fears of communal tension expressed by the State lacked substance.
Incidentally, even as the TVK government has moved the Supreme Court, on Monday, June 22, another bench of the High Court had urged all parties to bring the dispute to a close.
While hearing appeals arising from the contempt proceedings, a bench of Justices N Sathish Kumar and M Jothiraman of the Madras high court had questioned the need for continuing litigation.
“You can sit together and give a quietus to this,” the bench had orally observed, asking the parties to explore mediation and arrive at a solution that serves the interests of residents familiar with the ground situation.
