2 Aug 2018: Madurai : The Hon’ble High Court of Madras, Madurai Bench, today ordered that the police give protection to Swami Nithyananda so he could enter and perform all his rightful obligations as the Junior Pontiff and the successor to the incumbent Madadipathi in the Madurai Aadheenam.
* Couple of weeks back, the Hon’ble High Court had categorically ruled that the appointment of Swami Nithyananda as the sole successor junior pontiff to the Madurai Aadheenam is “IRREVOCABLE” and hence he is the undisputed Junior Pontiff and successor to the current 292nd Pontiff.
* The Court had ruled that no one else could be appointed subsequent to Swami Nithyananda as the Junior Pontiff as per law and the tradition of the Madurai Aadheenam as documented in its mother document.
* The Court had also taken the Government to task and observed that the learned Addl. Govt. Pleader had not submitted any evidence regarding the allegations of criminal cases or convictions against Swami Nithyananda though that was the basis on which his removal was sought by the Government.
Madurai Adheenam is a 3000 year old Monastery established by Goddess Meenakshi, the warrior queen of Madurai and revived 1500 years ago by the famous young Shaivite Saint Thirgnanasambandar. Since then, 292 Pontiffs have held the post of the head of the Mutt and Swami Nithyananda was appointed as the Junior Pontiff or the 293rd Pontiff “to be” in April 2012. Subsequently, owing to pressures and threats from various vested interests including the filing of the current suit by the Government of Tamil Nadu, the current pontiff claimed that he had revoked the said appointment. Swami Nithyananda then approached the High Court backed by many rulings of the Hon’ble Supreme Court and the documentation of the customs and traditions of the Madurai Adheenam which say that such arbitrary revocation is not valid and is illegal.
In March 2018 a single judge of the Madras High Court restrained Swami Nithyananda from entering the Madurai Adheenam or its temples, but that order was set aside in May by a Division Bench of the High Court questioning the propriety of the order in the light of the civil cases that were pending in lower courts and the constitutional validity of preventing a person from entering his place of worship.
Today’s win is the third in recent months for Swami Nithyananda and marks the triumph of truth and the Court reaffirmed his position as the Pontiff-To-Be of what is said to be the oldest monastic institution in the world.
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