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The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court on Thursday, September 24, quashed an FIR registered against more than 300 Hindu Munnani functionaries who protested in Madurai over the non-lighting of the Karthigai Deepam on the Thiruparankundram hill.
The court was hearing a petition filed by S Nallathambi, one of the accused, seeking to quash the case registered by the Madurai city police. The FIR named the petitioner and 303 others as having allegedly assembled unlawfully and raised slogans against the State government around 5 pm on November 25, 2023.
The protesters were opposing the decision not to light the Karthigai Deepam on Thiruparankundram hill. Police subsequently arrested them and registered a case against them.
The petitioner's counsel argued that the protest was a form of democratic expression and that there had been no inconvenience to the general public or damage to public property.
Justice R Vijayakumar observed that the FIR itself stated that the petitioner and others had protested against the State government for not lighting the Karthigai Deepam on the hill.
“This cannot be considered to be a criminal offence,” the judge observed, particularly since there were no allegations that the protesters had caused inconvenience to the public or damaged public property.
The court held that the other accused were also on the same footing. The continuation of criminal proceedings against them would therefore amount to an abuse of the process of law, the court said, and quashed the FIR against more than 300 Hindu Munnani functionaries.
The Madurai Bench specifically noted that the protest was against the State government's decision not to light Karthigai Deepam on Thiruparankundram hill and that there were no allegations of public inconvenience or damage to public property.
Thiruparankundram hill has been at the centre of a prolonged dispute over the location of the Karthigai Deepam ceremony. The hill houses the Arulmigu Subramania Swamy Temple at its lower section and the Hazrat Sultan Sikandar Badusha Auliya Dargah at the higher peak.
For decades, the Karthigai Deepam was traditionally lit at the Deepa Mandapam near the Uchipillaiyar temple. Hindu outfits, however, have for years demanded that the lamp also be lit at a stone structure near the dargah, which they refer to as the “Deepathoon”. The identity and history of the stone structure have themselves been disputed.
The issue escalated into a major legal dispute in 2025 when a petition was filed seeking permission to light the Karthigai Deepam at the disputed stone structure. In December 2025, Justice GR Swaminathan allowed the lighting of the lamp at the site, while the State government and other parties challenged the order. A division bench subsequently upheld the order in January 2026.
The controversy also led to protests and clashes between Hindutva activists and police during the 2025 Karthigai Deepam proceedings. The State government later approached the Supreme Court challenging the High Court's January 2026 order.
