Members of Parliament belonging to the INDIA bloc on Tuesday moved an impeachment motion against Justice G.R. Swaminathan of the Madurai bench of the Madras High Court under Article 217 read with 124 of the Constitution of India. The move demanding his removal comes after his judgment, saying that the Karthigai deepam should be lit atop the Thiruparankundram hill near the Dargah.
A total of 107 MPs from Tamil Nadu and also other states belonging to Congress, DMK and the Left parties who are part of the INDIA bloc signed the impeachment motion. The petition piloted by the DMK drew complete support from the INDIA bloc partners. The petition addressed to the Lok Sabha speaker says that the house passed the motion for the impeachment of Justice Swaminathan on the grounds of misconduct, which has raised serious questions regarding impartiality, transparency, and the secular functioning of the judiciary. It also alleged that the judge showed “undue favouritism” to senior lawyer M. Sricharan Ranganathan in deciding the cases and also favours advocates from a particular community.” The petition also said that Swaminathan was deciding cases on the “basis of particular political ideology and against the secular principles of Constitution.
#WATCH Madurai, Tamil Nadu: On the HC hearing over the Thiruparankundram Deepam, Karthikeyan, advocate for the petitioner, says, "... A notice has been issued to Madurai City Deputy Commissioner Inigo... The Chief Secretary and the ADGP Law Order have to appear before the court… pic.twitter.com/x4ZrnySNXu
— ANI (@ANI) December 9, 2025
Justice Swaminathan had on December 1 ordered that Karthigai deepam must be lit deepathoon (lamp pillar) atop the hills near the dargah instead of the deepa mandapam near the Uchipillaiyar temple as has been done for years. Though Swaminathan ordered that the lamp must be lit on the lamp pillar, the HR and CE department of the Tamil Nadu government chose to light the lamp near Uchipillaiyar temple as usual, by 6 pm on the festival day, as per tradition. This invited a court contempt.
In the meanwhile, as the Hindutva organisations were staging a protest against the administration, Swaminathan himself went to the spot and asked the CISF personnel guarding the high court premises to give protection to the petitioner and 10 others accompanying him to light the lamp on the deepathoon. But the CISF denied this.
The Madras High Court division bench, which heard an appeal filed by the government against Swaminathan’s ruling to light the lamp on the deepathoon, was apparently dismissed. Following this, the DMK has approached the Supreme Court in the row.
It may be recalled that Swaminathan and the ruling dispensation in Tamil Nadu have had several run-ins earlier. Swaminathan also came under criticism earlier for initiating contempt proceedings against YouTuber Savukku Shankar and advocate Vanchinathan of the Madurai bench of Madras High Court.
However, the impeachment motion will gain strength only if it is passed in both houses of the parliament and no judge has been impeached in the history of India.
