On March 3, the Supreme Court is scheduled to hear the appeal filed by the Tamil Nadu government against a Madras high court ruling that permitted the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) to conduct a route march throughout the state on March 5.
Chief Justice of India Dhananjaya Y Chandrachud agreed to list the state’s appeal for Friday this week after senior counsel Mukul Rohatgi mentioned the matter on behalf of the DMK government in the state.
Rohatgi pressed for an urgent hearing, pointing out that the route march is scheduled for March 5.
“There are five or six districts where there are other organisations like the PFI (Popular Front of India) and there are law and order issues. While the single judge agreed with us, a division bench passed the impugned order in a contempt plea,” he submitted.
The CJI responded that the matter will be taken up on Friday.
RSS has planned the route march across Tamil Nadu to commemorate the 75th year of Independence, the birth centenary of Bharat Ratna BR Ambedkar and Vijayadasami festival.
The state government, through its standing counsel Joseph Aristotle, contended in its petition before the top court that allowing such a march could cause a law-and-order issue and other problems in view of intelligence reports.
The decision by the state against the march was within the doctrine of reasonable restrictions on the fundamental rights under Article 19 (2) of the Constitution, to maintain public order, it added.
The state government cited reports related to apprehension for disturbance of public peace in view of the ban on the Popular Front of India (PFI) in September 2022.
On February 10, the Madras high court permitted RSS to take out its route march in Tamil Nadu on rescheduled dates, and observed that protests are essential for healthy democracy.
Setting aside the order passed on November 4, 2022 by a single judge that had imposed conditions on the proposed statewide route march asking the RSS to hold the march indoors or in enclosed space, the division bench restored the order dated September 22, 2022.
The September 2022 order had directed the Tamil Nadu police to consider the organisation’s representation seeking permission to conduct the march and a public meeting, as well, and to grant permission for the same.
