Shillong, April 11: Supreme Court on Tuesday dismissed the Tamil Nadu government’s appeal against the Madras high court’s decision allowing Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) route marches in the state.
On February 10, the Madras High Court approved the route marches despite the state’s denial, citing the possibility of assault by the banned Muslim group Popular Front of India (PFI).
The state government had appealed against the high court’s decision before the Supreme Court, but a bench of justices led by V. Ramasubramanian and Pankaj Mithal dismissed the appeal on Tuesday.
In an earlier statement, senior attorney Mahesh Jethmalani, who was representing the RSS, stated that without very good cause, the freedom to assemble peacefully without arms under Article 19(1)(b) cannot be restricted.
In light of the PFI’s recent ban, he questioned the government’s decision to forbid the RSS from holding marches in particular locations.
No violent incidents were reported from the places where these marches took place, according to Jethmalani, who also claimed that RSS members were attacked when they were simply sitting down.
After learning that the state had filed a new appeal contesting the original order, dated September 22, 2022, that instructed the Tamil Nadu police to consider the RSS representation and grant permission to conduct the programmes without conditions, the top court deferred the hearing on the state government’s petition challenging the high court order on March 17.
The Tamil Nadu government had informed the SC on March 3 that while it is not entirely opposed to allowing the RSS’s route marches and public meetings to take place throughout the state on March 5, it cannot be held in every street or locality, citing intelligence reports to support this claim.