SC dismisses TN Govt’s appeal against Madras HC order allowing RSS marches

New Delhi [India], April 11 (ANI): The Supreme Court on Tuesday dismissed Tamil Nadu Government’s appeal against the Madras High Court’s order allowing RSS route marches in the state.

A bench of justices V Ramasubramanian and Pankaj Mithal upheld the Madras High Court order which allowed RSS route marches.
The Tamil Nadu govt stressed issues concerning law and order, saying that some balance should be maintained and that neither everything can be banned nor allowed.

The lawyer for the Tamil Nadu Govt said that there is no absolute right to hold a procession, which is subject to various restrictions, and asked how can there be the direction that marches can be held wherever desired.

Senior Advocate Mahesh Jethmalani, appearing for RSS, said that the state is prohibiting the route marches saying that someone might come and attack. He stressed that due to someone else’s specious conduct, fundamental rights cannot be regimented in this fashion. It has earlier passed off peacefully, and no complaints were there, the lawyer said.

Earlier the Tamil Nadu Government told the Supreme Court that they are not totally against the RSS route march but can’t permit it in sensitive locations.

The court was hearing the appeal against the Madras High Court order permitting RSS for its route marches in the state. On February 10, Madras High Court directed Tamil Nadu police to grant permission to Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) to take route marches in various districts across the State on public roads. Recently the Tamil Nadu Government has challenged two orders of the Madras High Court dated September 22 2022 and November 2, 2022.

Earlier, the Tamil Nadu Government had also said that they will have a dialogue with the RSS on proposed routes for marches as they are not totally opposed to it. The state government had apprised the court that the government denied holding route marches in the sensitive areas, which have faced PFI incidents and have border areas with disturbances. The lawyer said that the government had some intelligence reports.

The lawyer for Tamil Nadu Govt had stressed that they are not entirely opposed to the procession but to the manner in which it is proposed to be done.

The RSS lawyer replied that the ground the state government mentioned is that PFI was banned by Central Govt and it is a threat to the organisation. They are not able to control terrorist organizations and that is why they want to ban the route march, the lawyer said.

The Tamil Nadu Government has moved the top court against the Madras High Court order permitting the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) to take out its route marche in Tamil Nadu on rescheduled dates.