Bengaluru, Jan. 10 -- The Madras High Court on Friday issued a warning to the Madurai district administration and police, cautioning that contempt charges would be framed if they failed to offer a satisfactory explanation for issuing prohibitory orders and obstructing the implementation of its directions permitting the lighting of the Karthigai Deepam at Thiruparankundram hill.

Justice GR Swaminathan of the Madurai Bench observed that the prohibitory order issued by the district collector under the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), followed by police obstruction, appeared to have been deliberately aimed at frustrating the court's December 1 order allowing the ritual at the stone pillar known as the Deepathoon. The judge warned t...