In a dramatic culmination of courtroom tension, the Madras High Court on Monday referred to the Chief Justice a contentious matter involving contempt allegations against Advocate S Vanchinathan, who had earlier accused Justice G R Swaminathan of caste and communal bias in his judicial conduct.
The Division Bench of Justices Swaminathan and K Rajasekar, which had summoned the lawyer for an in-person explanation, declared that it would no longer proceed with the matter and, instead, directed the Registry to place the entire record before the Chief Justice.
“This matter may now be placed before the Hon’ble Chief Justice,” Justice Swaminathan said toward the end of the hearing, acknowledging repeated concerns over conflict of interest, including appeals from eight retired judges of the Madras High Court who had earlier urged the Bench to step back.
Vanchinathan, a practising advocate and human rights activist based in Madurai, appeared in court on Monday in response to a summons issued on July 24. The court had sought a direct answer from him on whether he stood by his remarks in various media interviews and social media posts, where he allegedly accused Justice Swaminathan of favouring advocates from Brahmin backgrounds and targeting lawyers from Scheduled Caste communities.
The Bench had asked, “Do you continue to maintain your allegation that one of us is casteist in the discharge of judicial functions?”
Vanchinathan declined to answer orally and requested that the court put its question in writing. In response, the Bench issued a formal questionnaire and posted the matter for July 28 — the day’s hearing that eventually ended with the matter being transferred.
On Monday, Justice Swaminathan asked Vanchinathan in open court regarding the allegations and also over what he described as a sustained smear campaign. “For four years, you have been slandering me. We are also conscious of the rules of procedure. We are not fools,” the judge said. “We will not be intimidated or cowed down. Judicial independence is supreme.”
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At one point during the hearing, he said, “You are a comedy piece. I don’t know who called you all revolutionaries. You are all comedy pieces.”
While the court maintained that it had not officially initiated contempt proceedings, it observed that the line between criticism of judgments and personal attacks had been crossed.
“(It is) most unfortunate that some retired judges are rendering opinions while the matter is pending before us,” Justice Swaminathan said.
The Bench claimed that the proceedings against Vanchinathan “have nothing to do” with the complaint he filed with the Chief Justice of India. The court said that its action was only a response to Vanchinathan’s recent media interviews and online posts, which it said cast aspersions on the judge’s integrity. The Bench also described Vanchinathan’s recent public meeting and comments as “tentatively amounting to contempt”, though it stopped short of initiating any formal action, noting again that the matter was now being left to the discretion of the Chief Justice.
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Several advocates staged a demonstration in support of Vanchinathan, demanding that the contempt matter be dropped.
