The Madras high court on Friday ordered the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK)-led Tamil Nadu government to grant permission to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS)’s route march in the state and said the decisions of the State must be in the public interest rather than on “ideology and political understanding and affiliation”.
“Just because there are other outfits that have a different ideology, the permission sought cannot be denied,” a two-judge bench of justice R Mahadevan and justice Mohammed Shaffiq said in its 90-page order.
The ideology of every organisation or political outfit in the state need not be identical or acceptable to another, the court added and asseverated the State to uphold freedom of speech, expression and assembly, which are regarded as “inviolable rights” in the Constitution.
The division bench made the observations while hearing Letters of Patent Appeals (LPA) filed by RSS functionaries, who challenged a single judge’s order passed in November last year. The November order restricted the RSS route march since the Tamil Nadu police rejected permission to it in several places citing law and order.
The state police said that they had received intelligence inputs particularly after the arrests of Popular Front of India (PFI) members and the subsequent violence against right-wing members in Tamil Nadu. The court said that it is the duty of the State to maintain law and order and provide adequate security.
Senior counsel N R Elango representing the authorities in Tamil Nadu first contended that since the contempt petitions in this case were dismissed previously, the LPA is not maintainable and that the RSS should have appealed in the Supreme Court.
He further argued that the route march followed by a public meeting was not denied in toto since it was conducted on November 6 last year. He also argued that there was unrest when the RSS had conducted a procession in Karnataka’s Haveri district last October and petrol bombs were hurled in other instances.
Senior counsel N L Rajah appearing for the RSS argued that despite positive directions from the court, it was flouted by the State giving “untenable” reasons and they were not held for contempt.
He said that in a democratic State permission for a lawful procession has been denied which is an “admission to the effect that the constitutional machinery had broken down and the respondents (State) have exposed their inability to comply with the order passed in the writ petitions.”
After listening to the arguments, the two-judge bench reserved orders on January 14 and pronounced them on Friday.
The justices effectively overturned the single judge’s order that the march can be allowed only inside closed premises, bringing this issue between the RSS and the State that has been on-going since last August to a close.
After the police denied permission for the RSS to conduct the route march last October 2, the high court on September 30 last year directed the Tamil Nadu police to grant them permission while hearing a contempt petition against the police filed by an RSS office bearer.
Last November, RSS went on the route march in the districts of Cuddalore, Kallakurichi and Perambalur but permission was denied in other places citing law and order.
In the result, the order dated November 11, 2022 passed in the contempt petitions, which is under challenge in the present Leave Patent Appeals, is set aside, and the order dated September 22, 2022 passed in the writ petitions stand restored and would be enforceable.
“The State’s approach towards citizens’ right can never be adversarial in a welfare State and it must be considered for granting permission for peaceful rallies, protest, processions or meeting so as to maintain a healthy democracy where the Constitution reigns supreme and the fundamental rights of citizens are placed at a lofty pedestal,” the bench said.
“Since the organisation has the right to conduct peaceful procession and meetings in public place, the State under the guise of new intelligence input, cannot seek to impose any condition which has the effect of perpetually banning or infringing the fundamental rights of the organisation citing law and order problem, after the order passed in the writ petitions, which attained finality,” it added.
As the dates on which the RSS wanted to conduct the route-march have passed, the court has directed the RSS to file fresh applications with the authorities in Tamil Nadu with three different dates of their choice for the purpose of holding the route march. State authorities are directed to grant permission on one out of the three dates.
“The organisation (RSS) shall ensure that strict discipline is followed at their end and that there is no provocation or incitement on their part,” the court said in its orders. “The state on the other hand has to take adequate safety measures and make traffic arrangements to ensure that the procession and the meeting shall go on peacefully,” the court added.
