How a judge's order on lamp lighting at temple sparked political storm in Tamil Nadu: 'Vedas will protect you'

Since his appointment as the Assistant Solicitor General of the Madurai Bench Madras High Court in 2014, Justice GR Swaminathan, currently a Judge in the Madras High Court, has been wading into controversies with his political leanings in his speeches and judgements, favouring the Hindu religious right wing.

The issue of lighting lamps at the Subramaniya Swamy Temple, on Thirupparankundram hill, rocked the state on December 3 (Kathigai Deepam festival day), following a judgement from Justice Swaminathan allowing the ritual on a deepathoon near a dargah. This became the breaking point for the INDIA block to seek impeachment of the judge.

Hardly six months away from the Assembly election in Tamil Nadu, the BJP-AIADMK combine is all out to prevent the ruling DMK from winning. The DMK, in turn, has accused the BJP of ratcheting up communal tensions in the state.

Justice Swaminathan's recent direction allowing a lamp to be lighted by the members of the Hindu Makkal Katchi, near Hazrat Sultan Sikandar Badshah Dargah on the “deepathoon” (lamp pillar), a word coined by the judge himself, has led to a political upheaval with the DMK and the Left parties questioning his credibility as a judge.

Justice Swaminathan participated in the BJP programme as the Additional Solicitor General in 2014. He was part of the Hindu Munnani in 2015 and allegedly a member of the RSS. In 2022, he was called out for praising the then state BJP president K Annamalai (“he has played the role of a watchdog in a democracy. If it wasn't for him, the matter would not have come to light”) and a lawyer representing Democratic Advocate Association wrote to the Chief Justice of MHC requesting resignation of Justice Swaminathan for endorsing a political party.

The judge had said in a court that when a statue of Sita was placed beside Ram to substitute physical presence, “why can’t marriage be registered through virtual appearance?” The lawyer wondered why religion was used to argue for virtual registration of marriage.

Veteran BJP leader H Raja had been spearheading the Hindu Temple Reclaim Movement, demanding the state handover the administration of temples to the believers. Observing on the same line, in May 2022 Justice Swaminathan held that the Hindu Religious and Charitable Department did not have the jurisdiction to stop the temple trust from holding a car festival.

A few months back he narrated an incident how he saved a vedic scholar friend, getting him acquitted despite he being in the wrong and said: “If you protect the Vedas, the Vedas will protect you.”

There were various other circumstances the DAA listed out to highlight Justice Swaminathan’s bias. A former judge of the MHC, Justice K Chandru recently alleged that Justice Swaminathan behaves like the propaganda secretary of the RSS.

But the Thirupparankundram temple controversy has taken a dangerous form, even as the BJP leaders, especially H Raja equating it with the Ayodhya issue. The deepathoon, according to the ASI, is a centuries-old area marker. Now the right wing cadres have begun claiming that the dargah hoists its flag on a temple pole.

The ruling DMK and its allies fear that the judge might be setting the stage for communal polarisation of the state ahead of the Assembly election.