The Madras High Court today came down heavily on self-styled godman Nithyananda for giving "false" information to the court and asked why action should not be taken against him.

Justice Mahadevan wondered how could Nithyananda claim he was the 293rd pontiff of the Madurai Adheenam mutt, a 2,500-year-old Saivite mutt here, when the incumbent 292nd pontiff was alive.