Madras High Court: Supreme Court Refuses to Stay Karthigai Deepam Lighting Order

• The Supreme Court has agreed to hear the Tamil Nadu government's challenge to the Madras High Court order allowing the lighting of a lamp on Thirupparankundram hill.
• Justices Aravind Kumar and Vipul M. Pancholi issued notice to the original petitioners, Rama Ravikumar and others, on the State government's appeal.
• The Supreme Court has tagged the State's appeal with a pending connected case and adjourned the matter for further hearing.
• The dispute centers around a stone pillar located near a Dargah on the hill, which is claimed by devotees to be the site where the lamp should be lit.
• The court's ruling will have significant implications for religious freedom and land use disputes in India.

The Supreme Court has agreed to hear the Tamil Nadu government's challenge to the Madras High Court order allowing the lighting of a lamp on Thirupparankundram hill, but refused to grant an interim stay.

The Supreme Court has agreed to hear the Tamil Nadu government's challenge to the Madras High Court order allowing the lighting of a lamp on Thirupparankundram hill, but refused to grant an interim stay. This decision was made by Justices Aravind Kumar and Vipul M. Pancholi, who issued notice to the original petitioners, Rama Ravikumar and others, on the State government's appeal. The Supreme Court has tagged the State's appeal with a pending connected case and adjourned the matter for further hearing. This development comes as the Tamil Nadu government continues to contest the Madras High Court decision that permitted the lighting of a lamp at the 'Deepa Thoon' (stone lamp pillar) on the hill, which is located near a Dargah. The State had earlier challenged the contempt-related orders before the Supreme Court in December last year, but that petition was never listed for hearing.

The dispute over the lighting of the Karthigai Deepam at Thirupparankundram hill has been ongoing for several months. The controversy centers around a stone pillar located approximately 50 meters away from a Dargah on the hill, which is claimed by devotees to be the site where the lamp should be lit. The Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments (HR&CE) Department, which administers the Lord Subramaniya Temple situated at the foothills, has opposed the plea to light the lamp at this location. In January, a Division Bench of the Madras High Court upheld an earlier order allowing devotees to light a lamp at the 'Deepa Thoon', holding that preventing them from doing so would infringe their rights. The State's contention that there was no established custom of lighting the lamp at this site and that it had traditionally been performed elsewhere was rejected by the court.

The Supreme Court's decision to hear the Tamil Nadu government's challenge to the Madras High Court order has significant implications for religious freedom and land use disputes in India. The case highlights the complexities of competing claims made by different religious groups over sacred sites, and the need for careful consideration of these issues. The court's ruling will have far-reaching consequences for the administration of temples and other places of worship, as well as for the rights of devotees to practice their faith. In particular, lawyers and compliance officers should watch for the potential implications of this development on cases where competing claims are made by different religious groups.

Lawyers and compliance officers should watch for the potential implications of this development on religious freedom and land use disputes in India, particularly in cases where competing claims are made by different religious groups.

Source: Original reporting via The Hindu