Tamil Nadu govt agrees before SC to permit RSS to conduct route marches

New Delhi [India], November 6 : The Tamil Nadu government on Monday assured the Supreme Court that they will give permission to Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) conduct route marches in the state.
After getting assurance from the TN Government, a bench of justices, Surya Kant and Dipankar Dutta, asked the RSS to give the proposed routes for conducting the marches to the state authorities within three days. The court asked the authorities concerned to take a decision on the routes by November 16.
The marches are likely to be conducted in the state either on November 19 or 26.
The TN government had approached the Supreme Court, challenging the Madurai Bench of the High Court of Madras order allowing the RSS to conduct flag marches in the state.
Tamil Nadu government was represented by Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal and advocate on record Sabarish Subramanian.
The southern state government has challenged the HC's order dated October 18, 2023, allowing the RSS to conduct flag marches in various areas of Tamil Nadu.
The petition said that the order was passed without considering the history of violent incidents and the needs and objects of such marches, the prevalent intelligence reports regarding the possible occurrence of incidents affecting the law and order situation, and in complete ignorance of the other religious congregations during the ongoing Navratri festival and Thevar Jayanti across Tamil Nadu.
The petition said that the concerned respondents are representatives of the organisation named Rashtriya Swayam Sewak Sangh (RSS) which is neither a citizen of India nor a Body Corporate and hence isn't vested with the fundamental right guaranteed under Article 19 of the Constitution of India, which is available only to the citizens of India.
"That the respondents, without any rhyme, reason, or necessary cause, have sought permission before various police and administrative authorities of Tamil Nadu for conducting flag marches and processions on October 10, 2023, and October 29, 2023. The route maps of said marches are passing through narrow roads and also passing through the areas where places of worship of minority communities are situated," read the petition.
While the police authorities are gathering information necessary for disposing of the requests for permissions for the said marches, the respondents have filed numerous Writ Petitions before the Madurai Bench of the High Court of Madras, praying for the disposal of the said requests.
"During the pendency of the litigation, the police authorities, after assessing the intelligence inputs and evaluating the law and order situation and availability of the personnel situation in light of ongoing festivals, etc., and keeping in mind the history of such marches across India, most recently in West Bengal, where the said marches have led to communal clashes, refused the grant of permission," the petitioner said.
Despite the petition being rendered infructuous and the respondents not having the locus standi to file a Writ Petition, the Madurai Bench of the High Court turned the said litigation into an appeal over the correctness of the administrative decision without following settled principles of law and allowed the flag marches of the respondents to quashing the rejection orders of the petitioners, the petitioner said.