Madras HC denies compensation to Puthiya Tamilagam for cancelled protest march, orders change in rally permission rules

CHENNAI: The Madras High Court on Friday refused to order the State to grant compensation to Puthiya Tamilagam Party (PTP) for having allegedly suffered due to the police denying permission for their rally at the eleventh hour.

Since the city police denied the permission before the rally could commence, the party is not entitled for compensation, Justice P Velmurugan held.

He also directed the State to amend the Madras City Police Act, 1988, by increasing the prior representation period from 5 to 10 days for seeking permission to hold a rally, road roko, demonstration, or agitation.

The authorities who receive the representation must dispose of it within 48 hours, the judge wrote, while dismissing a petition moved by Puthiya Tamilagam founder K Krishnasamy, seeking to quash the order denying permission to hold the permitted rally and direct the State to provide Rs 1 crore as compensation for the loss incurred to the party.

The judge also quashed the criminal cases filed against the party members for holding the rally despite denial of permission.

On November 7, 2024, the Puthiya Tamilagam was allowed to hold a rally from Rajarathinam Stadium to Raj Bhavan, demanding the State to scrap 3 percent internal reservation for the Arunthathiyar community within the 18 percent meant for the Scheduled Castes in education and government jobs, and meet the State Governor to submit a memorandum of demands.

But, at midnight on November 6, the permission was cancelled by the police, citing issues with the public order and traffic congestion. However, as the party still held the rally, the police arrested several hundreds of party cadres including Krishnasamy.

Krishnasamy contended that the party suffered a huge money loss as several hundreds of party members were already en route to Chennai from different parts of the State to attend the rally.

He also alleged that the police were discriminating against parties other than the ruling DMK and its allies in granting permission for protests, wondering how the DMK who had announced a protest march against Governor RN Ravi just a day before the event received police permission the next day.

At a hearing on January 24, Justice P Velmurugan had criticised the police for denying permission to the PTP to hold a demonstration at the eleventh hour. Being a neutral agency, police should act independently. However, in Tamil Nadu, they act as instructed by their masters, he had said.

When asked about the grounds for the cancellation of permission, the police mentioned that Rajaratnam Stadium was a hotspot and the political party was not clear about the particulars of the rally. But the judge refused to accept the reasons, wondering "why all these reasons were not stated in the order denying the permission."