Opposition Moves Impeachment Notice Against Judge Over Lamp Lighting Row, BJP Says 'Unprecedented'

Last Updated:December 09, 2025, 17:37 IST

This motion is for removal of Madras HC judge GR Swaminathan, who ordered Subramaniya Swamy temple authorities to ensure a lamp is lit at the 'deepathoon' (pillar) near a dargah

The BJP said this is a rare occasion, where a judge is facing an impeachment motion for a judgment delivered in court. (Image for representation)

Opposition MPs, led by the DMK, on Tuesday submitted an impeachment notice to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla against a judge of the Madras High Court.

This motion is for the removal of Madras High Court Judge GR Swaminathan, who ordered Subramaniya Swamy temple authorities to ensure that a lamp is lit at the deepathoon (pillar) near a dargah.

Calling the move “unprecedented", the BJP reacted saying this is a rare occasion, where a judge is facing an impeachment motion for a judgment delivered in court.

“It may be one of the rare occasions where a judge is facing an impeachment motion for a judgment delivered in court. A truly unprecedented moment that will shape the conversation around judicial independence and political browbeating for years to come," said BJP IT cell head Amit Malviya.

Parliamentary party leader of the DMK, Kanimozhi, the party’s Lok Sabha leader TR Baalu, Samajwadi Party leader Akhilesh Yadav, Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra handed the notice with over 120 signatures for moving a motion for the removal of the judge.

WHAT IS THE ISSUE?

On December 1, a single judge bench of Justice Swaminathan had held that the Arulmighu Subramania Swamy temple was duty-bound to light the lamp at the deepathoon, a stone lamp pillar located on the Thiruparankundram hillock close to the dargah.

It had said doing so will not encroach upon the rights of the adjacent dargah or the Muslim community. When the order remained unimplemented, the single judge passed another order on December 3 permitting devotees to light the lamp and directed the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) to ensure their protection. This led the DMK-led Tamil Nadu government to move to the Supreme Court.

The issue of lighting of the traditional lamp at the hilltop temple near Madurai rocked the Lok Sabha last week, with Baalu accusing the BJP of trying to “ignite" communal tensions in Tamil Nadu and Union minister L Murugan hitting back at the state government for “denying the right to worship". The SC on December 5 agreed to consider hearing a plea of the state government challenging the Madras HC order.

The Madurai bench of the Madras HC on December 4 had dismissed an intra-court appeal filed by the Madurai district collector and the city police commissioner, upholding a single-judge order that allowed devotees to light the lamp.

(With PTI inputs)

News politics Opposition Moves Impeachment Notice Against Judge Over Lamp Lighting Row, BJP Says 'Unprecedented'

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