MADURAI: The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court on Thursday directed the Registry to submit in a sealed cover transcript of the social media interview given by advocate S Vanchinathan, in which he alleged that Justice GR Swaminathan exhibited caste bias while discharging his judicial duties.
A bench of justices G Jayachandran and KK Ramakrishnan gave the direction while hearing the suo motu contempt proceedings against the advocate. The proceedings were initiated based on a direction given by the Chief Justice Manindra Mohan Shrivastava to whom a bench led by Justice Swaminathan had referred the matter in July 2025. A bench of justices GR Swaminathan and K Rajasekar had issued a pre-cognisance notice to Vanchinathan for making the allegations in his interviews to various YouTube channels. After asking the advocate whether he stood by his statement, the judges had referred the matter to the chief justice for appropriate action.
Hearing the petition, the court orally remarked that they need to see the advocate’s interview to decide whether the “scandalous” remarks were against the institution or the individual (judge).
They also wondered if remarks against a judge should be considered as an “interference of judicial duty” and “contempt of court”, adding that the majesty of the institution is predominant. Since the transcript of the interview was not enclosed with the petition, the judges directed the counsel representing the Registry to produce the transcript in a sealed cover by March 1. The case was adjourned to March 2.