NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Monday agreed to hear a plea filed by the Tamil Nadu government challenging the Madras High Court’s permission to light a lamp on Thiruparankundram hill. A bench of Justices Aravind Kumar and Vipul M Pancholi issued notice to Rama Ravikumar and others but turned down TN’s plea to stay the HC order. The bench also issued notices to the respondents (writ petitioners in the High Court, ASI, TN Waqf Board, Sikkander Badushah Durgah) and sought their responses on the issue.
The top court on Monday asked why the state has filed the petition only in June against the order passed in January. TN’s petition in the apex court was filed on June 11, after the new government led by TVK’s Vijay assumed charge.
The state’s petition has been ordered to be tagged along with an earlier writ petition filed by the Hindu Dharma Parishad seeking ASI takeover of the hill and directions for daily lamp lighting at the contested spot. The court has adjourned the case to another date.
The Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay-led government is challenging the January 6 order of the Madurai bench which upheld the single judge’s December 1, 2025, direction to light the ceremonial lamp on the festival day.
The state government had raised concerns over public order, claiming that lighting the lamp at the hilltop, which lies close to the dargah, could foment communal tensions. The HC, on January 6, dismissed TN’s apprehension as an “imaginary ghost”.
Nainar hails top court’s decision
Chennai: Tamil Nadu BJP president Nainar Nagenthran on Monday welcomed the SC’s refusal to grant an interim stay on the Madras HC’s order permitting the lighting of the Karthigai Deepam on the deepathon at Thiruparankundram. In a statement, Nagenthran said the verdict had brought “immense joy and satisfaction” to Murugan devotees. He alleged that despite attempts to deprive devotees of their right to worship through legal challenges, “faith and the natural order” had ultimately prevailed.