Madurai Bench Of Madras HC Allows RSS Marches On 22 October Across Southern Tamil Nadu Except Madurai, Sivaganga And Ramanathapuram

The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court on 18 October granted permission to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) to conduct marches in a number of districts under its jurisdiction on 22 October.

However, it did not grant permission for marches in three districts, i.e., Madurai, Sivaganga and Ramanathapuram.

The districts for which permission was granted are Pudukkottai, Thanjavur, Tenkasi, Tirunelveli, Thoothukudi, Kanniyakumari, Tiruchy, Theni, Dindigul, Karur and Virudhunagar.

The RSS had also sought permission for marches on 29 October but it was not granted.

According to a report by The New Indian Express, Additional Advocate General Veera Kathiravan informed Justice G Ilangovan, who heard the case that the state government could not provide security in these three districts during these dates due to Navaratri, Maruthu Pandiyar Jayanti and Thevar Jayanti.

Justice Ilangovan then asked the RSS to approach the government with dates after 30 October. He also asked the organisation to accept alternate routes suggested by the police.

Earlier, Justice G Jayachandran of the Madras High Court in Chennai granted permission to the RSS to hold marches at 35 places in districts under its jurisdiction.

As per a report by LiveLaw, he had said that the reasons provided by the state government to deny permission, such as the presence of structures, places of worship of other religions and offices of organisations not in agreement with the RSS ideology, were against secularism.