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Showing contexts for: RSS in Dravidar Kazhagam vs The Secretary To Government on 13 April, 2015Matching Fragments
23.2. The petitioners therein are the members of Rashtriya Swayam Sevak Sangh, shortly, RSS. RSS wanted to hold a peaceful march to celebrate the Founder's Day on 09.11.2014 to be followed by a public meeting at various places in Tamil Nadu. The petitioners made representations to the Commissioner of Police or the District Superintendent of Police, as the case may be, seeking permission to organise a procession and to conduct a meeting. The representations were rejected and permission was refused. The writ petitions were filed challenging the order refusing permission to procession and public meeting.
23.3. The refusal was on the following, among other reasons, (i) there is a prohibitory order ; (ii) RSS volunteers wear an uniform that resemble as that of a police force and also they carry lathis ; (iii) There are Intelligence Reports that terrorist outfits are likely to engage in disruptive activities.
23.4. The learned Judge held that the uniform of Khaki half trouser and white shirt that the RSS volunteers wear was designed way back in 1920s and no member of police force wears half-trousers and white shirt. Therefore, there is no bar for RSS volunteers to wear khaki half trousers and white shirts.
23.12. I am in full agreement with Hon'ble Mr.Justice V.Ramasubramanian in holding that while several Organizations are permitted to take rallies, processions and public meeting, the petitioners therein, namely, the RSS, could not be denied permission.
23.13. In my view, the petitioner herein stands in a better footing, as in that case, the petitioner therein, namely, RSS, wanted to conduct processions and public meetings in Chennai City as well as at various public places in the Districts, while the petitioner herein does not seek permission to conduct processions and public meetings and the petitioner seeks permission only to conduct programmes in a private place at their own premises.
23.16. Though the RSS was permitted to organise procession as per the order of this Court dated 07.11.2014, in some of the districts, the police objected for wearing uniforms by RSS volunteers and the police arrested them for wearing uniform and took them to marriage halls and detained them till the evening and then let them off.
23.17. This led to the filing of the contempt petitions Cont.P.Nos.3140 to 3142 and 3151 to 3154 of 2014.
23.18. The contempt petitions were closed on 27.11.2014, though the learned Judge recorded a finding in paragraph 11 of the order in the Contempt Petitions that it is a clear case of wilful disobedience of order of this Court, taking note of the fact that after he passed the order on the forenoon on 07.11.2014, Friday, a mention was made to the Hon'ble First bench to move an appeal as urgent matter by the Sate, but the same was declined by the Hon'ble First Bench, consisting of the Hon'ble Mr.Justice S.K.Kaul, Chief Justice and Hon'ble Mr.Justice M.Sathyanarayanan. While closing the contempt petitions, the learned Judge noted that the action of the State was of bad taste and bad faith. It is relevant to extract paragraph 15 of the said order of Hon'ble Mr.Justice V.Ramasubramanian dated 27.11.2014 in Cont.P.Nos.3140 to 3142 and 3151 to 3154 of 2014 as hereunder :