A Madras High Court order permitting devotees to light a lamp for a Hindu ritual at a hilltop pillar in Madurai, instead of at the temple below, has triggered a storm in some circles. The DMK-led Tamil Nadu government is most upset, ostensibly at what it sees as the impunity of Justice G Swaminathan. It has taken three steps: it has challenged the directive in the Supreme Court and before a division bench of the High Court, it has blocked devotees from accessing the site so they cannot exercise their religious right to worship in line with the High Court order, and, most startlingly, it has rallied the Opposition to file an impeachment notice against the judge.

It is this last action that sets a profoundly disturbing precedent. An impeachment notice against a sitting High Court judge is designed to have a chilling effect on the judiciary. It sends a........

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