I.N.D.I.A. Bloc leaders submitting impeachment petition against Madras HC judge Justice G R Swaminathan (Inset) to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla.
Chennai: Justice G R Swaminathan, against whom the Opposition I.N.D.I.A alliance submitted an impeachment petition on Tuesday, hails from Tamil Nadu’s Thiruvarur in the Cauvery Delta region.
He enrolled as an advocate in 1991, began practising independently in Puducherry in 1997, and shifted to Madurai in 2004 when a bench of the Madras High Court was established there.
Justice Swaminathan, who was appointed Assistant Solicitor General in the Madurai Bench in 2014, has been vocal about his association with Hindu Munnani, an outfit that claims to espouse the cause of Hindus in Tamil Nadu. Three years later, he was elevated as an additional judge in the Madurai bench and later made permanent.
The judge, known for his outspoken nature and for quoting films in his judgments, drew criticism in 2022 when he sentenced YouTuber and whistleblower ‘Savukku’ Shankar to jail on charges of contempt of court.
He also issued a contempt warning to advocate S Vanchinathan of Madurai over a complaint to the Chief Justice of India alleging caste bias and ideological misconduct.
Justice Swaminathan has authored several landmark judgments and even released a self-appraisal card.
His ruling banning unnecessary medical interventions on intersex infants and children in Tamil Nadu was widely lauded, along with other decisions.
However, in his speech at the 17th Annual Talent Parade of Vedic Scholars in July this year, he said that a court verdict had brought him the realisation that the protectors of the Vedas would guard them.
Opposition parties, including the DMK, have criticised the judge on several occasions.