Madras HC upholds fundamental right to conduct public meetings

In an order passed by Justice MS Ramesh, the Madras High Court has held that people have a fundamental right to hold public meetings, and the same cannot be done away with merely on the apprehension of a law and order situation arising..A social organisation by the name of Arappor Iyakkam had approached the High Court last week when police authorities denied it permission to conduct a public meeting aimed at protesting corruption in the state..The petitioner’s application to conduct the said meeting was responded to with a show cause notice on why permission should be granted. Detailed representations were made emphasising on the right to freedom of speech and expression and peaceful assembly. The petitioners, through their counsel V Suresh, were constrained to approach the High Court after the said representation did not yield any satisfactory response..Justice Ramesh observed that permission to hold the meeting was denied based on:.“…some reliable information that the petitioner was attempting to instigate people and create law and order problems under the guise of conducting the meeting and further, that anti social elements may take advantage of the situation and indulge in anti social activities.”.The Court was, however, of the view that the fundamental rights to free speech and expression as well as the right to assemble peacefully cannot be altogether dispensed with on such apprehensions alone. The learned judge observed,.“The legal proposition that Article 19 (1) (a) of the Constitution of India guarantees every citizen, the fundamental right of freedom of speech and expression and Article 19 (1) (b) confers the right to assemble peacefully and without arms is well established and not in dispute….…. I do not endorse the reasoning of the respondents for rejecting the petitioner’s request for the simple reason that the police department has been created only for the purpose of tackling the above problems.”.He opined that if there were justifiable apprehensions regarding a possible law and order situation arising out of the conduct of the public meeting, reasonable conditions could be imposed to counter and control the same..“Since it is the fundamental right of the petitioner to conduct such a meeting, if at all, the respondent is of the view that they intend to instigate people and thereby create law and order problem, it was always open to them to permit the petitioner to conduct the meeting by imposing conditions..… Likewise, if the respondents had apprehended that anti social elements may infiltrate with the public and indulge in anti social activities, adequate protection can be extended during the course of the meeting to ensure that such incidents are thwarted. While that being so, the rejection order may not be justified.”.However, he also cautioned that the restrictions so imposed should not be arbitrary,.“At this juncture, it would be appropriate to point out that the restrictions should be reasonable, what is meant is that the same should not be arbitrary and take away the freedom of speech over the issue of corruption, which issue is intended to be propagated in the meeting.”.On these grounds, the concerned Deputy Commissioner of Police was directed to grant permission to the petitioners to hold the said public meeting, after imposing reasonable conditions..Read order below..Click here to download the Bar & Bench Android App