Thiruparankundram Deepam case: Hearing on the implementation case in the court has been postponed till March 18.

Tamil Nadu: The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court on Wednesday adjourned the hearing of the contempt of court case related to the Thiruparankundram Deepam matter till the 18th.

Rama Ravikumar, Paramasivam, Arasapandi, and others from Madurai had filed petitions in the Madurai Bench of the Chennai High Court last year seeking an order to light the Karthigai Deepam on the pillar atop the Thiruparankundram hill.

Hearing these petitions, Supreme Court Justice G.R. Swaminathan had ordered on December 1 last year that lamps be lit on the pillar and other places on the hill as usual on Deepa Karthigai Day (December 3, 2025).

However, this order was not implemented. The court issued a second order in this regard, which also remained unimplemented. Meanwhile, Ram… Ravi Kumar and others filed a petition in the Madurai Bench of the Chennai High Court, seeking contempt of court proceedings against the District Magistrate, City Police Commissioner, Deputy Commissioner, and Temple Administration for failing to implement the court order.

High Court Judge G.R. Swaminathan is hearing these petitions. When the case was already scheduled for hearing, District Magistrate K.J. Praveenkumar, City Police Commissioner J. Loganathan, Deputy Commissioner, and Temple Administration apologized. Subsequently, the Police Commissioner and Deputy Commissioner were exempted from appearing in court, but the judge also ordered District Magistrate K.J. Praveenkumar to appear in person for the hearing on March 2nd. Accordingly, the case came up for hearing again last Monday. At that time, District Magistrate K.J. Praveenkumar appeared in person, apologized for failing to implement the court’s order, and requested that the case be closed.

The judge who recorded the order ordered that the District Collector be exempted from appearing in court for the hearing of the case. He also ordered that if the five people specified by the court were allowed to worship near the pillar on the Thiruparankundram hill, the case would be closed and the district administration and temple administration would report on this by March 4.

Accordingly, the contempt of court case came up for hearing on Wednesday before Judge G.R. Swaminathan.

At that time, Madurai City Police Commissioner J. Loganathan, Deputy Commissioner Inigo Divyan, the Thiruparankundram temple’s executive officer, and a group of trustees were present.

Meanwhile, the government said it was considering a new system in which a maximum of five people would be allowed to worship near the pillar on the hill, as per the court order.

At that time, the judge intervened and said that the court had not directed the implementation of any new system. The court’s order should not be considered a personal order.

Accordingly, sufficient time should be given to implement the court’s order. The police department’s lawyer stated that there were some practical difficulties in implementing it immediately.

Following this, the temple trustees’ lawyer requested time to obtain approval from the Hindu Religious Endowments Department to allow five people to worship on the hill as per the court’s order.

After recording these, Judge G.R. Swaminathan issued the following order: If time is needed to implement the court’s order, it should be confirmed and a date should be stated. The judge stated that the hearing of the case is postponed until the 18th.