Madras High Court permits BJP workers to hold bike rally with national flags on Independence Day

The Madras High Court on Wednesday permitted the workers of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to hold bike rallies with the national flag across Tamil Nadu on Thursday on the day of Independence..Justice G Jayachandran said the decision to deny the permission was violative of fundamental rights.The Court also took note of the fact that the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) government had similarly denied the permission to Congress as well for apprehension of law and order problem, traffic jams and damage to the national flag. "Why must citizens have to take the court's permission every year to hoist the national flag?"," the Court asked, as it directed the State DGP to not deny permission for any such rallies as long as the participants guarantee that flag will not be damaged, and traffic and law and order rules won't be breached..When the State attempted to argue that the issue was not political, the Court said it would still like to clarify the position of law. However, Additional Advocate General J Ravindran continued with the opposition and referred to photos of previous rallies to argue that some participants do not wear helmets."It is a joyous occasion and we don’t want to prevent anyone from celebrating. In fact, we want everyone to celebrate but there are other ways," the State counsel said.He added that State does want any inconvenience to motorists but law and order situations must also be prevented."These are sensitive dates and the State must take steps to protect its citizens. 1,700 police personnel deployed for independence day, 60 or 90 personnel left for other work," Ravindran said..The Court said it will take judicial note of all of this but questioned the rationale behind the decision to deny the permission for such rallies. "If the State wants to add ifs and buts... what is the message that the citizen is getting here? That the State does not want to allow them to hoist or carry the national flag even though they have a right to do so?," the judge asked.The Court added that it would keep the order limited to this present petition only. However, it again asked why citizens should be forced to approach the Court every year..It then proceeded to allow the petition filed by A Krishna Prasath, the Coimbatore district secretary of BJP Yuva Morcha. He had challenged the August 10 order of the police denying permission for such bike rally.The Court also recorded in its order the direction to the State police to not prohibit any rally either on foot, bikes, or cars, as long as the national flag was displayed with dignity without any damage..[Read live thread from Twitter]