Synopsis: The controversy over lighting the Karthigai Deepam in Tiruppanarankundram in Tamil Nadu’s Madurai district has snowballed into a law and order issue with pro-Hindutva groups wanting to light the lamp on a pillar with questionable credentials. The single judge’s judgement, too, has come under scrutiny.

The controversy over lighting the Karthigai Deepam at the claimed Deepathoon (lamp pillar) in Tiruppanarankundram has thrown up multiple questions, including over the propriety of a single-judge Bench of the Madras High Court in Madurai ordering CISF cover — not state police protection — for lighting the lamp.

However, the bid to light the lamp, on Wednesday, 3 December, did not succeed as the police, led by Madurai City Commissioner J Loganathan, stopped the group — members

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