Madras High Court: In a writ petition filed by the petitioner, the State coordinator of a political party seeking permission to conduct protest, A Single Judge Bench of B. Pugalendhi, J.* stated that conducting of protest is not meant for fun and such protests cannot be conducted at the whims and fancies of the political parties. The Court thus, could not find any fault with the reasons assigned by Respondent 2 for rejecting petitioner’s request, as they were expected to provide police protection to the Kanda Devi temple car festival on the same day on which the protest was requested, and accordingly disposed of the present petition.
Background:
The petitioner had filed the writ petition against the order of Respondent 2, wherein the petitioner’s request to conduct protest was denied. The petitioner sought for a consequential direction to the respondents to grant permission to conduct protest near Thiruppuvanam Santhai Thidal on 8-7-2025.
Respondent 2 rejected the petitioner’s request on grounds that they already had conducted a protest, and Kanda Devi temple car festival was to be conducted on the same day for which police protection was required. Further, the requested date for the protest was the date for weekly market on the place identified for the petitioner’s protest.
Considering the impugned order, the petitioner also made a request to conduct a protest the next day, which was subsequently rejected by Respondent 2.
Analysis and Decision
The Court observed that the same political party conducted protest on the same cause of action, at the same place, and was requesting to conduct another protest within a period of 5 days. The Court further observed that political parties have certain responsibilities towards the public, who would be disturbed pursuant to their protests as it would affect the right to free movement of the common public.
The Court observed that the right to protest should not infringe on the rights of the general public and those who were not associated with the protest. The sacrosanct right of protest could not be used in a cavalier manner to cause persistent irritation or disharmony to the public. The aspects of visual and auricular violation of aggression against the general public should be kept in mind when such protest is conducted. Public places are basically meant for the use of the public and while protesting in such places is a valuable democratic tool, the purpose for which such places exist should not be forgotten. The Court further stated that it could not be claimed that protests should be allowed repeatedly at the same place without restrictions.
The Court held that conducting protest is not meant for fun, and such protests cannot be conducted at the whims and fancies of the political parties. The Court referred to the ratio laid down in several cases of Supreme Court and held that the right of protest and expression of opinion is provided under Artice 19 of the Constitution, but the same is subject to reasonable restrictions which could be imposed by State.
The Court stated that it could not find any fault with the reasons assigned by Respondent 2 for rejecting the request for conducting protest, as they were expected to provide police protection to the Kanda Devi temple car festival on the same date on which the protest was requested.
With respect to previous protests, the Court noted that some of the speakers who participated in the protest had used filthy language, mentioned communal names, and had tried to provoke a particular community. However, Respondent 2 had not taken any action against such persons who had violated the law in a previous protest of the petitioner. The Court stated that everyone is bound by law and law enforcement authority has a responsibility to implement law in its true spirit.
[J. Eswaran v. State of T.N, W.P. Crl.(MD) No.448 of 2025, decided on 9-7-2025]
*Order by: Justice B. Pugalendhi
Advocates who appeared in this case:
For Petitioner (s): M. Dinesh Hari Sudarsan, Advocate
For Respondent(s): E. Antony Sahaya Prabhakar, Additional Public Prosecutor
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