Deepam row | Now there are 3 versions of pillar, says Madras High Court

Referring to the 1920 order that mentions that the area belonged to the dargah, advocate Mubeen said, 'The finding is very clear that the flight of steps from Nellithope to the hilltop belongs to the mosque.'

Madurai (Tamil Nadu): The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court on Tuesday noted that there were three different versions of the Thirupparankundram hilltop stone pillar (deepathoon) presented before it during the case hearing.

Justice G Jayachandran, who made the observations during the hearing of the batch of appeals against the December 1 order of a single judge permitting lighting of Karthigai deepam atop the Thirupparankundram hill near a dargah on December 3, took strong exception to an advocate for creating ruckus in the court hall seeking to implead in the case.

Immediately after the court commenced hearing the case, a lawyer shouted inside the court hall despite the judge asking him not to interfere with the proceedings.

Taking serious note of his behaviour, the court ordered the CISF to escort the lawyer out of the court hall. Till the CISF personnel arrived and removed him, the advocate kept shouting.

The division bench comprising Justices G Jayachandran and K K Ramakrishnan referred the matter to the Tamil Nadu Bar Council for appropriate action under the Advocates Act.

When the Bench commenced hearing the appeals against the December 1 order today, advocate Abdul Mubeen advanced arguments on behalf of the TN Wakf Board, saying the mosque and its surrounding areas "belong to us." "So, it (deepathoon) belongs to us," he said.

At this, judge Jayachandran said, "Now there are three versions of the pillar."

He was apparently referring to the earlier submissions by the government authorities that the ancient lamp pillar was a "survey stone" and that it was a "Jain structure."

Referring to the 1920 order that mentions that the area belonged to the dargah, Mubeen said, "The finding is very clear that the flight of steps from Nellithope to the hilltop belongs to the mosque."

The finding said that the mosque and its adjuncts belonged to the Mohammedans. "The single judge (Justice G R Swaminathan) missed the findings. The single judge says one has to climb rocks to reach the stone deepathoon. I have been instructed to submit that it can be accessed only through the dargah," he said.

Mubeen further claimed that the word deepathoon was now coined for the first time and that he was not offended if it was called so. "After all, every faith has its own," he said.

At this, Justice Jayachandran said, "For convenience, you can call it a stone pillar."

Mubeen presented photos of the hillock to substantiate his argument and said the mandapam on the hill also belonged to the Mohammedans as per the 1920 order and access to the hill would be through the dargah.

The bench said it wanted to hear the ASI's stand regarding a submission that no activity can be allowed at the hills without its notification.

Senior advocate S Sriram, representing Hindu devotees, said the present case was the first one where an argument has been raised that the single judge's order was against the oath of the Constitution.

The court will hear further arguments in the case tomorrow.