RSS Route Marches Can Proceed In Tamil Nadu On Oct 25 And Nov 1, Subject To Local Changes: Madras HC

The petitioner, the State Secretary of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), sought directions requiring the State authorities to permit RSS route marches and public meetings on 18 October, 25 October or 1 November 2026.

The proposed marches were to be conducted in uniform, accompanied by a band, and followed by public meetings.

Local applications had been rejected on grounds including the proposed routes, nearby religious places and a statue, traffic concerns, loudspeakers, unspecified participant numbers, and possible law-and-order issues.

The Court referred to earlier litigation concerning RSS marches, including the guidelines framed on 5 January 2024, and directed the petitioner to provide details of the marches and an undertaking to comply with those guidelines.

At the hearing, the petitioner supplied the requested details; the Advocate General stated that the marches scheduled for 25 October and 1 November could proceed, subject to locally suggested modifications.

1. Whether the police could refuse permission for the proposed RSS marches and meetings on the stated grounds, consistently with the applicable constitutional principles and prior court directions.

2. Whether, in light of the information supplied and the State’s position, directions should issue to enable the proposed marches and meetings to proceed subject to the applicable guidelines and local conditions.

Article 19(1)(b) of the Constitution protects the right to assemble peaceably, subject to reasonable restrictions imposed by law under Article 19(3), including restrictions in the interests of public order.

The Court stated that the Tamil Nadu Police Act could not be used as a bar to RSS route marches, referring to earlier decisions in the same litigation that had rejected its use to extinguish the right to hold such marches.

It also relied on the directions and guidelines in the prior RSS proceedings, including the 5 January 2024 guidelines, which governed consideration of applications and compliance by organisers.

Those prior directions precluded rejection merely because a route passed religious structures or institutions or organisations held views different from those of the RSS.

The Court considered the rejection grounds against its earlier rulings and found that the police were again relying on reasons it had previously held insufficient, including the presence of religious structures or organisations with differing views.

It emphasised that the guidelines were intended to facilitate lawful consideration of applications, not to provide grounds for their rejection.

After the petitioner furnished the requested particulars and undertaking, the State accepted that the marches on 25 October and 1 November could proceed, subject to modifications suggested by local police according to local conditions.

The Court also directed that the organisers provide advance information and that the police process applications constructively rather than search for defects.

The organisers were required to comply with the Court’s 5 January 2024 guidelines and provide advance programme details; the time and place of the meeting were to be intimated by 19 October 2026.

The connected miscellaneous petition was closed.