The Madras High Court on Friday accepted the reasons cited by the police for having denied permission to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) route march at over 50 places across Tamil Nadu on October 2. It, however, made it clear that the police should grant permission for the route march as well as public meetings on November 6.
Justice G.K. Ilanthiraiyan said he was not inclined to take immediate action against the officials for having denied permission in defiance of a September 22 court order, because they had cited seven intelligence reports with respect to possible communal tensions in the wake of the crackdown on the Popular Front of India (PFI), a Muslim organisation.
Nevertheless, ordering that the permission be granted for the route march on November 6, he warned of severe action if there was any defiance of this order, too. The judge made the observations while passing interim orders on a contempt of court petition filed by a RSS functionary against the police officials for disobeying the September 22 order.
