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Supreme Court allows RSS route march, rejects Tamil Nadu govt's request

2 min read . Updated: 11 Apr 2023, 12:16 PM IST Sounak Mukhopadhyay

Haridwar: RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat with Baba Ramdev and Acharya Balkrishna during the 'Sanyas Deeksha Mahotsav', at Har Ki Pauri ghat in Haridwar, Thursday, March 30, 2023. (PTI Photo) (PTI) — Haridwar: RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat with Baba Ramdev and Acharya Balkrishna during the 'Sanyas Deeksha Mahotsav', at Har Ki Pauri ghat in Haridwar, Thursday, March 30, 2023. (PTI Photo) **(PTI)**

The Supreme Court earlier agreed to hear the Tamil Nadu government's appeal against the Madras High Court order permitting RSS for its route march in the state.

In a major decision, the Supreme Court disregarded the state government's motion to forbid the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) from holding rallies in Tamil Nadu. The Madras High Court earlier gave the RSS permission to march through the state's several districts. The Supreme Court has now taken up the matter after the Tamil Nadu government filed an appeal against this ruling.

R Karthikeyan, the joint secretary of the Sangh in Tiruvallur, had petitioned the court for contempt of court against the police on October 2, 2022, after they had refused to provide permission for the route march. The Madras High Court subsequently instructed the Tamil Nadu police to grant the request by September 30, 2022.

The Sangh office bearers filed a contempt of court petition in the Madras High Court in 2022 after the Tamil Nadu Police forbade RSS gatherings in certain locations. The court had issued a warning that if the authorities disobeyed the order, contempt charges would be brought.

"The court had passed orders only after taking all circumstances into consideration. It said no one should be allowed to undermine a judicial order and the denial of permission despite the court orders seems to be a mockery (of justice)," stated RSS senior counsel Prabhakaran.

Elango, the counsel for the Tamil Nadu police, earlier argued that the Central intelligence agencies had warned the state of potential law and order disturbances due to the action taken against the Popular Front of India (PFI).

The Left, the VCK and other DMK allies have repeatedly urged the government to deny permission for the RSS march. The Tamil Nadu government responded by officially denying permission, citing the Union Government's ban on the PFI as well as the different Muslim organisations condemning it.

(With ANI inputs)

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Sounak Mukhopadhyay

Sounak Mukhopadhyay, who also goes by the name Sounak Mukherjee, has been producing digital news since 2012. He's worked for the International Business Times, The Inquisitr, and Moneycontrol in the past. He's also contributed to Free Press Journal and TheRichest with feature articles. He covers news for a wide range of subjects including business, finance, economy, politics and social media. Before working with digital news publications, he worked as a freelance content writer.