Sikandar Malai sacrificed at altar of a hill temple

Justice R. Vijayakumar of the Madurai Bench of Madras High Court, acting as tiebreaker in a split verdict, has held that animal sacrifice, cooking, carrying or serving non-vegetarian food cannot be permitted on Ti-rupparankundram hill until a competent civil court rules on the customary practice.

- HD Bureau

He also declared that the hillock’s name shall remain “Tirupparankundran’ , based on archival and revenue records, rejecting the appellation “Sikandar Malai’.

Justice Vijayakumar aligned with Justice S. Srimathy’s view in the earlier split verdict, overruling Justice J. Nisha Banu’s dissent. The judge emphasised that a party asserting a customary religious practice bears the burden of proof in a competent civil forum.