Permit RSS route march with no new conditions, Madras HC directs TN govt

CHENNAI: The Madras High Court held that the State should not impose any new conditions for permitting Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) route marches other than the guidelines set by the Court and observed that in future route marches should not be intervened by the police for fancy reasons.

The presence of other religious structures in the earmarked route cannot be bar for the procession of other religions, a public road must be treated a public road, observed Justice G Jayachandran and directed the State police to scrupulously follow the guidelines issued by the High Court on January 5, 2024, regarding granting permissions to the route marches.

The judge also directed the organizers of the route marches to find alternate routes or dates to conduct the route marches where the police refused to grant permission.

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These directions were issued to the batch of petitions moved by the RSS functionaries of various districts seeking to grant permission to hold the route marches and public meetings at 58 places across the State on the evening of Vijayadasami.

Additional public prosecutor (APP) KMD Muhilan submitted that out of 58 applications 52 were permitted and 6 applications were rejected for various reasons.

The rejected places come under Avadi and Tambaram commissionerate, Coimbatore city police limit and Thoothukudi police limit, he said.

In some places the organizers had selected school premises to conduct the meeting without any consent letters from the school management, hence the permission was rejected, said the APP.

Since police forces are inadequate in some places and other religious structures in the route the applications were rejected, submitted the APP.

The counsel for the petitioners contended that whether these conditions will be applicable for minority institutions as they even conduct political meetings within the educational premises.

Further, the petitioners came forward to hold the route marches on alternate dates or alternate routes where the permission was denied, especially the route march scheduled near Kulasekarapattinam was changed on October 20 considering the overcrowding on account of Dussehra festival.

After the submission, the judge directed the police to consider the alternate routes or dates given by the petitioners and pass orders to conduct the route marches.