Despite the Madras High Court directing the DMK government in Tamil Nadu to give permission to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) to carry out its procession march, the district administration of Nilgiris and many other districts have not given permission yet for the route march supposed to be held on 22 October 2023.
The Madras High Court in a strong observation noted that the Tamil Nadu state government is willfully opposing the RSS route march. The court observed, “The rejection order passed subsequently clearly shows that the State has no intention to permit this Organization to conduct the Rally on 22.10.2023 or 29.10.2023. The reasons stated in their rejection order are not pertinent to the inconvenience of the State to provide protection particular date or time but on the general reasons which will always be in existence at all point in the entire 365 days of the year.”
The Court further declared that the State’s rejection orders did not align with the principles of secular and democratic governance.
Specifically, the Court addressed the DMK government’s objection concerning the presence of Mosques and Churches along the procession route, stating, “The rejection of the RSS’s procession and public meeting request based on the existence of these structures, places of worship of different religions, or offices of organizations with differing ideologies is inconsistent with the fundamental principle of Secularism, upon which the Indian Constitution is built.”
In light of the above order, an RSS worker in the Nilgiris has served a contempt notice to the Tamil Nadu home secretary, the DGP, and the district superintendent of police, alleging their failure to approve a requested route march, as sanctioned by the Madras High Court.
In the notice, R Thiagarajan explained that he had initially approached the Nilgiris police on September 13 to seek permission for an RSS route march scheduled for October 22, followed by a public gathering. He stated that on 11 October 2023, the Nilgiris district superintendent of police sent Thiagarajan a set of questions regarding the proposed event. Despite him providing responses to all the queries, his application was ultimately denied, the notice says.
On October 16, the High Court issued a collective order instructing the Tamil Nadu police to grant permission for such marches under reasonable conditions.
However, despite the court’s directive, the Tamil Nadu police have yet to grant permission for the march. In light of this, Thiagarajan’s legal counsel has expressed their intention to initiate contempt proceedings should the court’s order continue to be disregarded, and they are seeking permission for the route march scheduled for 22 October 2023.
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