Justice Swaminathan, a lamp-lighting order and a fiery row

Justice GR Swaminathan joined the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh in 1994 and worked as a full-time pracharak for two and a half years.

In recent weeks, justice GR Swaminathan’s name has been everywhere, surfacing more often in parliamentary rhetoric than in law reports. His December 1 order permitting the lighting of a lamp atop the Thiruparankundram hill in Madurai triggered a volatile chain of events.

Justice GR Swaminathan (HT PHOTO)

The Tamil Nadu government defied the order, inviting contempt proceedings. Opposition MPs announced an impeachment motion. A division bench of the Madras High Court later upheld justice Swaminathan’s ruling and declared that the hilltop, the ancient stone pillar