The Madras High Court on Friday, 9 January 2026, sharply questioned the Executive Officer of the Arulmigu Subramania Swamy Temple at Thirupparankundram over the hoisting of a dargah flag on land declared as temple property, observing that the act amounted to criminal trespass.
Justice GR Swaminathan, while hearing a contempt petition relating to non-compliance of an earlier court order, sought a clear explanation from temple authorities on how the dargah management was allowed to hoist a flag at the Deepathoon area for the Sandhanakoodu festival.
At the outset, the Court asked the Executive Officer whether the place where the flag was hoisted belonged to the dargah or the temple. In response, the EO admitted that the land belonged to the temple. When questioned on whether any complaint had been lodged against the dargah authorities, the EO stated that no complaint had been filed and cited illness and absence from duty as reasons.
The Court expressed strong displeasure over this explanation and directed the EO to immediately lodge a complaint and instructed the Police Commissioner to take action upon receipt of the complaint.
Referring to the recent order of the Division Bench, the Court reiterated that the Deepathoon area, located on the lower peak of the Thirupparankundram hill, had been categorically declared as temple land. The Court noted that despite this declaration, the dargah authorities had tied the Pallivasal flag on a tree located in the said area in connection with the Sandhanakoodu festival.
Recording the submission of the Executive Officer, the Court observed: “The Hon’ble Division Bench was pleased to declare that the Deepathoon area that is on the lower peak of the hill belongs to the temple. But in connection with the Sandhanakoodu festival, the Dargha authorities tied the flag of the Pallivasal in the tree in the Deepathoon area. Thiru. Yagna Narayanan, the Executive Officer states that the permission of the temple authorities was not obtained before doing so. He concedes that what was committed by the Dargha officials was a rank criminal trespass.”
The EO further undertook before the Court that a complaint for criminal trespass would be lodged immediately before the jurisdictional police and that all necessary formalities would be completed to initiate criminal prosecution against the dargah officials. This statement was made in the presence of counsel Chandrasekar.
Justice Swaminathan also questioned the apparent inconsistency in the administration’s conduct. The Court recalled that authorities had earlier claimed that even the entry of five persons into the area would lead to public disorder and statewide unrest, which was cited as justification for imposing prohibitory orders under Section 144 of the CrPC. However, no action was taken when the dargah flag was hoisted on temple land.
The Court remarked that the right to property applied equally to all and questioned why criminal trespass was permitted in this instance. It further observed that the authorities appeared to have acted in a one-sided and biased manner.
The judge was hearing a contempt petition arising from non-compliance with his order dated December 1, which directed temple authorities to light the Karthigai Deepam at the Deepathoon atop the Thirupparankundram hills. Earlier, senior police and revenue officials had been summoned after citing law and order concerns to justify non-implementation of the court’s direction.
The Court also noted that despite being granted four weeks to file affidavits explaining non-compliance, the officials had failed to do so and showed no remorse for their actions. Justice Swaminathan identified three distinct acts of contempt – disobedience of the original order, issuance of Section 144 to frustrate the court’s directive, and resistance to implementation even after the prohibitory order was quashed.
Taking on record the officers’ submissions that they acted on their own and not under political dictation, the Court said it would frame contempt charges against the officials and adjourned the matter to 2 February 2026.
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Source: LiveLaw
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