New Delhi: The Supreme Court Tuesday allowed the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) to carry out rallies in Tamil Nadu, rejecting the MK Stalin-led DMK government’s request.
The state government had cited law and order concerns while challenging the Madras HC’s February order allowing the RSS to take out marches in the state. On its part, the HC had observed that the ideology of every organisation or political outfit in the state need not be identical or acceptable to another, and that “just because there are other outfits that have a different ideology, the permission sought cannot be denied”.
Upholding this order, the apex court bench comprising Justice V. Ramasubramanian and Justice Pankaj Mithal noted that the main objection rejected by the state government before the HC was that after imposition of a ban order on another organisation, law and order problems cropped up in certain places. It said that this led to several cases being registered.
However, the apex court noted, “But the chart provided by the state government shows that the members of the respondent organisation were the victims in many of those cases and that they were not the perpetrators.”
The RSS had applied to the Tamil Nadu Police for permission to carry out the marches on 2 October 2022, to commemorate the 75th year of Independence, the birth centenary of Bharat Ratna Dr B.R. Ambedkar, and Vijayadashami. However, a batch of 49 petitions was filed before the Madras HC then, when no decision was taken on the representations.
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Madras HC orders
On 22 September last year, a single judge of the HC directed the state authorities to grant permission for the march, subject to twelve conditions. Those included that during the programme, “nobody shall either sing songs or speak ill of any individuals, any caste, religion, etc,” and that “the processionists shall not in any manner offend the sentiments of any religious, linguistics, cultural and other groups.”
Challenging this order, the state government filed a review application in the high court, contending that the RSS wants to conduct the march on 2 October, which was a Sunday. It asserted that on Sundays, Christians in large numbers will offer prayer in churches. It also contended that most of the routes chosen by the RSS were in Muslim-dominated areas where mosques are located, and therefore, there was a likelihood of communal confrontations on the grounds of religion and caste. However, the HC rejected the state’s review petition on 2 November last year.
RSS functionaries then approached the HC with contempt petitions, complaining of non-compliance with the 22 September order passed. They asserted that despite the order, the authorities had rejected their representations. In response, the state authorities cited the Centre’s ban on the Popular Front of India (PFI) in the HC, stating that there were threats from various quarters over it.
On 2 November, the HC was informed by the state government that out of the 50 places in which the procession was slated to be conducted, the organisation was granted permission only for three places, and was also to hold the event indoors at another 23 places. Applications seeking permission to conduct the procession in 24 other places were rejected citing law and order problems or on the basis of an intelligence report allegedly received by the authorities.
On 4 November, the HC permitted the RSS to hold the procession and public meetings on 6 November at 44 locations across Tamil Nadu out of the 50 for which it had requested permission. It imposed certain additional conditions on the procession, including the condition that the meeting be conducted “in a compounded premises such as ground or stadium”.
‘Justified’ in passing order
The RSS challenged this order before a two-judge bench. On 10 February this year, a division bench of the HC set aside the single judge order imposing conditions on the march. In doing so, the bench said that “even though the State has the right to impose restrictions, it cannot prohibit them totally, but only impose reasonable restrictions.”
“Since the organisation has the right to conduct peaceful procession and meetings in a 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.
The court had directed the RSS to approach the state authorities with three different dates of their choice for holding the march, and the state authorities were asked to grant them permission for one of those dates.
“The organisation shall ensure that strict discipline is followed at their end and that there is no provocation or incitement on their part. 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 had ordered.
The state government then filed petitions in the Supreme Court, challenging the HC orders.
The Supreme Court has said the division bench was “justified” in passing its February order, and setting aside the single judge’s November order.
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