Chennai, Jan 6 : The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court will pronounce its verdict on Tuesday in the sensitive case relating to the lighting of the Karthigai Deepam at the lamp pillar atop Thiruparankundram in Madurai.

The case arose from a petition filed by Hindu Tamil Party leader Rama Ravikumar, seeking directions to light the Karthigai Deepam at the hilltop lamp pillar. On December 1 last year, a single Judge Justice G. R. Swaminathan allowed the plea and ordered that the ceremonial lamp be lit on the festival day.

However, the order was not implemented after authorities cited possible law-and-order concerns.

Challenging this direction, the Executive Officer of the Thiruparankundram Murugan Temple, the Madurai District Collector, and the Madurai City Police Commissioner filed an appeal before a Division Bench comprising Justice G. Jayachandran and Justice K. K. Ramakrishnan.

The Bench heard the matter in detail for over a week, with arguments from multiple parties, including the Sikandar Dargah, the Wakf Board, and the temple administration. After recording submissions from all sides, the judges reserved their orders and later indicated that the verdict would be delivered on January 6.

Meanwhile, a related legal issue surfaced concerning practices at the dargah on Thiruparankundram Hill. Amid allegations of animal sacrifice and the serving of non-vegetarian food during rituals, a petition filed by Manikamurthy led to interim directions from a single judge on January 2.

The order restrained the dargah administration from performing animal sacrifice, serving non-vegetarian food, or transporting meat from the foothills to the hilltop. Seeking a stay on this order, the dargah administration filed an urgent appeal. However, when the matter was mentioned before the Division Bench, the judges declined to entertain the appeal at this stage and advised the parties to await the January 6 verdict in the lamp-lighting case.

The Bench observed that any further course of action should be decided based on that outcome.

As of now, the restrictions on animal sacrifice and non-vegetarian food during the festival period remain in force.

The judgment is likely to have a significant impact on the handling of religious practices and administrative arrangements at Thiruparankundram Hill, a site of deep spiritual significance to multiple communities.

/IANS