Chennai: The Madras High Court on Wednesday granted permission to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to conduct a bike rally in Coimbatore as part of the Independence Day celebrations, allowing participants to carry the National Flag.
The decision was made by Justice G Jayachandran in response to a petition filed by A Krishna Prasath, District Secretary of the BJP-Yuva Morcha, Coimbatore District.
The court dismissed the State’s concerns, which had led to the denial of permission for the rally. It emphasized that the Director General of Police should not prohibit rallies where participants carried the national flag with dignity and did not obstruct traffic.
The court had previously remarked during an urgent mention of the case on Tuesday that there was nothing wrong with individuals wishing to carry the National Flag during a rally. The judge noted that a brief rally lasting 15 minutes to an hour would not cause significant harm and that the State could not entirely reject the request.
“Anyone can go with flags. There is nothing wrong in it. Them (BJP) having a rally for 15 minutes or 1 hour is not going to cause any damage. If you (State) want, you can make suggestions about the route. But you can’t reject completely,” the judge had remarked orally.
During the hearing on Wednesday, Additional Advocate General (AAG) J Ravindran informed the court that permission was denied not for political reasons but to uphold the dignity of the national flag. He cited the Flag Code of 2022, issued by the Ministry of Home Affairs, which restricts the flag from being flown on vehicles except those belonging to certain dignitaries like the President and Prime Minister.
Ravindran expressed concerns about maintaining discipline among the 200 bikes expected to participate and ensuring adherence to the Flag Code. He stressed that the issue was not political and pointed out that a similar request by the Congress party had also been denied. He suggested that if the party wanted to hold a procession by walking, the State might consider it within two hours.
Advocate Paul Kanagaraj, representing the BJP, assured the court that the rally’s intent was to instill pride in the National Flag without any political motives. He also confirmed that participants would not carry party flags or raise slogans during the rally.
The court noted that the State’s concerns, as presented by the AAG, were not reflected in the original rejection order. However, it directed the rally participants to maintain order and refrain from any actions that might demean the National Flag. The court also instructed the State not to prevent the rally and asked the organizers to specify the route and the approximate number of participants by 10 PM so that necessary arrangements could be made.