The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court on Friday came down strongly on attempts to make derogatory remarks against the judiciary, cautioning that it would not tolerate efforts to “demoralise” the institution.
A division bench of Justices G Jayachandran and K K Ramakrishnan made the oral observations while hearing appeals arising out of the ongoing dispute over lighting the Karthigai Deepam lamp at the ancient stone pillar (Deepathoon) atop Thirupparankundram hill near a Dargah.
The issue came up when advocate M R Venkatesh, appearing for the writ petitioners who had sought permission for the lamp-lighting, told the court that personal comments were being made against the single judge who had earlier allowed the ritual.
Taking exception to such conduct, the bench observed:
“Persons violating the law think that there won’t be any reaction. Please instruct your clients not to test the patience of the court and degrade the judiciary.”
Warning that action would follow if this continued, the judges said that attempts to demoralise the institution would not be tolerated.
“Whether you are in power or not, you have tongue or no tongue. Whatever it is, if you are going to demoralise the institution, the constitution will remain only on paper,” the bench remarked.
The court further said that merely because judges cannot “openly react”, people should not keep provoking the court and warned that strict action would be taken if the limits were crossed.
On December 1, single judge Justice G R Swaminathan had directed the management of Arulmighu Subrahmanya Swamy Temple at Thirupparankundram to facilitate the lighting of the Karthigai Deepam at the Deepathoon on the evening of December 3.
However, the order was not complied with, prompting the petitioners to move a contempt petition before Justice Swaminathan, seeking action against the temple authorities for alleged wilful disobedience of the court’s directions.
At the same time, the temple’s executive officer, the Madurai District Collector and the Commissioner of Police approached the division bench seeking to quash the single judge’s order.
Hearing the batch of appeals, the division bench said it would take up the matter comprehensively after all existing parties filed their pleas.
“We will hear everyone together. All those parties already involved in the case will be allowed to file pleas. No one will be allowed to implead,” the bench clarified.
The court fixed December 12 for hearing the appeals related to the Karthigai Deepam order.
Meanwhile, in the contempt proceedings, Justice Swaminathan adjourned the petition filed by Rama Ravikumar, one of the original writ petitioners, to December 9 in view of the pending proceedings before the division bench.
The matter thus continues on two tracks — the division bench examining the validity of the single judge’s directive on lamp-lighting, and the single judge monitoring alleged non-compliance with that very order — against the backdrop of the High Court’s stern warning against any attempt to undermine the dignity of the judiciary.
