Tanisha Rana
Published on: November 04, 2022 at 21:39 IST
Out of the fifty locations for which it had asked permission, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) was given permission by the Madras High Court on Friday to hold a route march on November 6 in forty-four locations throughout Tamil Nadu.
With the exception of a few isolated incidents of law and order disruption, Justice GK Ilanthiraiyan stated that he had read the sealed cover intelligence report provided by the Tamil Nadu police on Thursday.
He came to the conclusion that there were no evident security risks in the State.
The TN police had previously refused the RSS permission to hold such a march on October 2 due to law and order issues resulting from the Popular Front of India’s ban.
Given the security dangers following the Coimbatore car blast and the ongoing severe weather conditions in the state, the State had stated on Thursday that just three of the 50 locations could receive approval.
However, Justice Ilanthiraiyan stated on Friday,
“I have gone through the sealed cover report and not found any thing. You (TN police) have mentioned crime numbers of 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012. The DGP had asked the concerned Superintendents of Police to consider prevailing situation and grant or deny permission.”
“What is this? I only found some scattered instances here and there that pertain to recent times. How is any of this connected (to the Coimbatore blast?”
As a result, the Court granted the RSS permission to have public meetings and a route march accompanied by music at all the locations it had asked, with the exception of Nagercoil, Coimbatore City, Pollachi, Tirupur, Palladam, and Arumani.
The Court claimed that only the aforementioned six locations included “some material.”
The court stated that it had seen “nothing” in the intelligence report to imply the same, despite the State Public Prosecutor’s insistence that the law and order situation in the state was still “sensitive.”
“I will permit you (RSS) to conduct this procession and function in all but these six places,” the single-judge made it clear.
Additionally, it gave RSS the freedom to hold the event in the aforementioned six locations by approaching the State police again in two months with a fresh representation.
The court ordered the State police to make appropriate security arrangements and to instruct all police personnel not to “precipitate the issue.”
The TN government and the police were represented by senior counsel NR Elango and the State Public Prosecutor Hassan Mohammad Jinnah.
The RSS was represented by senior counsel NL Rajah, S Prabakaran, and advocate B Rabu Manohar.