MADURAI: The People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL) has today urged for dropping of contempt of court proceedings against advocate S.Vanchinathan of Madurai Bench of Madras High Court in the issue of his complaint against High Court Judge Justice G.R.Swaminathan.
“The allegations made by advocate Vanchinathan were a confidential complaint which he had sent to the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court and Chief Justice of Madras High Court against Justice G.R.Swaminathan. When this matter is still pending, the allegations content was leaked by an AIADMK-affiliated advocate to a WhatsApp group of lawyers, and this group is administered by a lawyer who is affiliated with the BJP. This fact is a matter of concern,” Prof.R.Murali, president and advocate Sekar Annadurai, general secretary, PUCL-Tamil Nadu & Puducherry, have asked in a press statement issued from Madurai today- July 27th 2025.
They said that as per the ‘in-house enquiry’ mechanism established by the Supreme Court of India in 1999, it must be first determined whether a prima facie case exists in the complaint before taking any further steps when a complaint against a judge is made.
“It is important to note that a Supreme Court bench comprising Justices B.R.Gavai, Surya Kant and A.S.Oka had ruled on February 20th 2025 that complaints against judges should be kept confidential. Advocate Vanchinathan had already appeared in the court. The language used against Vanchinathan by the judge looks like he is already guilty and gave an impression that matter has been concluded. Advocate Vanchinathan is a human rights activist. When the complaint against one particular Judge is still under preliminary consideration by the Chief Justice of India, then why there is a rush to initiate proceedings against advocate Vanchinathan? The independence of lawyers is tied to the autonomy of judiciary, and when that is attacked, the entire democracy itself is undermined,” the PUCL has said today and added that eight retired judges have also appealed for dropping of contempt proceedings against the Madurai lawyer.
