Madras High Court has issued statutory notices summoning Tamil Nadu’s Home Secretary, P Amudha, and Director General of Police (DGP), Shankar Jiwal, following a batch of petitions filed by the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). The RSS claimed that state authorities had acted in contempt of the court’s order by denying them permission to conduct route marches and public meetings, despite the court’s prior approval. Justice G Jayachandran directed the state officials to appear before the court in four weeks.Senior counsel G Rajagopal, representing the RSS members, informed the court that it had issued a common order on October 17, 2023, directing the police to grant permission for route marches in 35 places across the state on October 22 and 29. However, the state had refused to comply with this order.
Additional Public Prosecutor R Muniyapparaj requested more time, as the state had filed an appeal before the Supreme Court, which was scheduled for a hearing on November 3. However, the court declined to defer the issuance of the notice or grant further adjournments, stating that it appeared “prima facie” that the TN government and the police were either “incapable of administering the state or had ignored” the court’s order, disregarding the need to respect judicial decisions.