Supreme Court allows RSS route march in Tamil Nadu; rejects State's appeal against Madras High Court permission

The Supreme Court on Tuesday rejected the appeal filed by the Tamil Nadu government against a Madras High Court judgment allowing Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) to carry out a route march in the State, [K Phanindra Reddy vs and ors G Subramanian].A bench of Justices V Ramasubramanian and Pankaj Mithal passed the verdict dismissing the State government's appeal against a February 10 judgment of the High Court. " ... it is not possible for us to find fault with the order passed by the learned Judge either in the main writ petitions or in the review applications. Hence all the special leave petitions are liable to be dismissed. The Special Leave Petitions are accordingly dismissed. No costs.".The order was passed on a plea moved by the Tamil Nadu government challenging Madras High Court orders permitting the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) to carry out its route march in Tamil Nadu on rescheduled dates without restrictions. The top court had earlier adjourned the case on a submission by the State of Tamil Nadu that the parties will discuss suitable routes to arrive at a solution.The RSS had, in October 2022, sought the Tamil Nadu government's permission to carry out its march in the State to mark 'Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav' and Gandhi Jayanti.However, the State government had refused, which led to the RSS moving a plea before the High Court for relief.On November 4 that year, a single-judge had given the RSS permission to conduct the march subject to certain conditions like restricting the march indoors or in enclosed spaces.On February 10, a division bench of the High Court had lifted these restrictions and emphasised the importance of protests in a healthy democracy.This led to the present appeal by the State before the apex court..Senior Advocates Mahesh Jethmalani, Guru Krishna Kumar and Menaka Guruswamy appeared for the RSS, along with advocates Nachiketa Joshi, Archana Pathak Dave, Mugdha Pande, Santosh Kumar and Praneet Pranav.Senior Advocate Mukul Rohatgi appeared for the Tamil Nadu government.[Read judgment]