On 14th August, the Madras High Court granted permission to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to organise the “Tiranga Rally” (bike rallies with the national flag) in Tamil Nadu on 78th Independence Day after a writ petition was submitted by A. Krishna Prasath, the Coimbatore district secretary of BJP Yuva Morcha requesting approval for the same in celebration of 15th August. Earlier, the police had refused permission for the rally saying that it could cause law and order situations.
The decision to refuse permission, according to Justice G Jayachandran, violated fundamental rights. The court also noted that the Congress party had also been denied permission by the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) government due to concerns about law and order issues, road congestion and damage to the national flag. “Why must citizens have to take the court’s permission every year to hoist the national flag,” the court questioned. The state DGP was instructed by the court to give authorisation for any such gatherings so long as the organizers provide assurances that traffic and law and order regulations won’t be broken and that the flag will not be damaged.
The court stated that it would still like to clarify the legal position when the state attempted to claim that the matter was not political. However, Additional Advocate General J Ravindran persisted in opposing the plea, citing images from earlier rallies to support his argument that some attendees are not wearing helmets. He alleged that the DCP’s decision to deny the approval was influenced by more than just the narrow roadways and ongoing construction of the flyover. The latter had however originally highlighted inadequate route information for denying permission.
The petitioner’s lawyer mentioned that the Registry had turned down a similar request by the BJP leader for rallies throughout the state because of technical difficulties. As a result, the petition was only filed by the Coimbatore official. The state counsel contended, “It is a joyous occasion and we don’t want to prevent anyone from celebrating. In fact, we want everyone to celebrate but there are other ways.” He conveyed that although the state wants to minimize any disruption to drivers, law and order issues must also be avoided and added, “These are sensitive dates and the State must take steps to protect its citizens. 1,700 police personnel deployed for Independence Day, 60 or 90 personnel left for other work.”
The court informed that it would consider the submissions but also challenged the reasoning behind the denial of permission for these types of events. “If the state wants to add ifs and buts, what is the message that the citizen is getting here? That the state does not want to allow them to hoist or carry the national flag even though they have a right to do so,” the court pointed out.
The court further declared that the order would be restricted to this particular petition alone, but asked why people should be compelled to go before the court annually. It noted that the state police should not forbid any kind of rally including vehicles, bicycles, or people on foot, provided that the flag is flown in a dignified manner and sustains no damage.
The plea contested a 10th August order from the Coimbatore Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) North that had refused permission for the rally on several grounds. The petitioner’s attorney was allowed to submit a lunch motion for an expelled hearing by the judge. The former accused the official of giving inconsistent reasons for the denial during the afternoon session. On 13th August, the bench led by Justice G. Jayachandran gave the Government advocate a day to gather the required instructions. However, the bench stressed that permission should not be withheld if the rallies can be held peacefully without causing disturbances to the public.
