New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Tuesday dismissed a plea by Tamil Nadu government challenging the Madras High Court order, which allowed RSS to conduct a route march across the state, IANS reported.
A bench headed Justice V Ramasubramanian said the appeal is dismissed. During the hearing, RSS had contended that if its march is being attacked by a terrorist organisation in Tamil Nadu, then the state government has to protect it.
Senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, representing the Tamil Nadu government, had submitted before the court that “We are not totally opposed to having route marches and public meetings across the state, but it cannot be in every street, every mohallaa.”
Rohatgi argued that RSS cannot seek a carte blanche in conducting the marches and added that the high court had agreed that the situation of security in the state offered a mixed bag. He stressed that the state government cannot shut its eyes to law-and-order concerns.
The bench had orally observed that a balance should be struck between the language of power and the language of democracy. Senior advocate Mahesh Jethmalani, representing the RSS, submitted that the state government cannot stop an organisation from holding peaceful marches by citing apprehensions in connection with a banned outfit.
On March 1, the Supreme Court agreed to examine the Tamil Nadu government plea challenging the Madras High Court order, which allowed RSS to conduct a route march across the state.
