Former Madras High Court judge K Chandru, long known for his ideological activism and open alignment with Left/Dravidianist politics, has again inserted himself into public controversy; this time by attacking sitting Madras High Court judge Justice GR Swaminathan for the “crime” of believing in the Vedas and speaking at events organised by the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS).
Chandru’s intervention came after over 100 I.N.D.I. bloc MPs, led by the DMK, moved a motion seeking Justice Swaminathan’s impeachment. Even as the political machinery of the ruling Tamil Nadu establishment went into overdrive, Chandru enthusiastically amplified their narrative, delivering a series of allegations that mirror DMK talking points.
Speaking at a legal event organized by the advocates’ wing of the Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK) in October 2025, Chandru says Justice Swaminathan had “betrayed his oath to the Constitution” – a claim Chandru justified solely on the grounds that the judge had publicly stated his reverence for Hindu scriptures and spoken about the historical evolution of the Constitution. The former judge even went so far as to call Swaminathan a “strange person,” declaring that remarks about the Constitution being influenced by the Government of India Act “strike at the heart of the constitutional order.”
Chandru framed Swaminathan’s attendance at RSS-linked events as evidence of misconduct, asserting that the sitting judge behaves “as if he is the propaganda secretary of the RSS.” He further complained that Swaminathan’s belief in the Vedas is “the least expected of a sitting judge,” revealing more about Chandru’s own ideological prejudice than any breach of judicial ethics.
In line with his long-standing hostility toward Hindu cultural expression, Chandru condemned Swaminathan’s speeches praising the Vedic tradition and accused him of “denigrating the Constitution” – an inversion of reality given that Chandru himself has a decades-long record of politicising the judiciary through Marxist activism.
Speaking to The Print, Chandru defended the impeachment attempt initiated by DMK MPs, insisting that removal is the only remedy for what he labelled “misbehaviour.” He claimed that Swaminathan’s conduct, and not merely his judicial orders, was “unbecoming,” and concluded that a judge who believes in the Vedas or speaks at RSS events is unfit for the judiciary.
This attack is rich with irony, coming from a figure like Chandru, whose own career has been marked by open allegiance to communist and DMK-aligned causes. His past reveals a consistent pattern of political advocacy, now repackaged as a defense of judicial secularism. For Chandru and his political masters in the DMK, “secularism” appears to be a one-way street, hostile to any public affirmation of Hindu faith while being conspicuously silent on other forms of identity politics.
Chandru’s sudden constitutional purism is belied by his own history as a fellow traveler of communist propaganda, an ideology historically antagonistic to the very constitutional framework he now claims to protect. His transformation into the chief accuser in this impeachment drama exposes the move for what it is: not a principled stand for judicial integrity, but a politically motivated witch-hunt against a judge whose cultural worldview does not conform to the anti-Hindu secularism of the I.N.D.I. bloc and its fellow travelers.
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