"Leaders Shouldn't Be Stopped From Meeting People Who Elected Them": Madras HC Directs Coimbatore Police To Allow PM Modi's Road Show, Imposes Restrictions

Justice Anand Venkatesh directed the Assistant Commissioner to grant necessary permission and police protection upon reasonable condition. One such condition was to ensure that no flex boards were erected by the organizers during the roadshow. The court also directed the authorities to make sure that the roadshow is conducted in a smooth manner without giving rise to any law and order problems or cause security concerns for the Prime Minister. 

While rejecting the State's objection to the conduct of a roadshow, the court pointed out that some hindrance to the free movement of people was unavoidable in such cases where a Political leader wished to interact with the people. The court added that this could not be a ground to deny permission and it was upon the police to find an alternative. The court highlighted that the leaders were elected by the people and thus should not be stopped from meeting them.

"Ultimately, these leaders have been chosen by the people and hence, they should not be stopped from meeting the people who elected them. In the instant case, the mode adopted for meeting people is to have a Road Show to ensure that the Hon'ble Prime Minister of India comes interface with maximum number of people at Coimbatore within a short time. Hence, the hindrance to general public due to the visit of the Hon'ble Prime Minister is unavoidable and that cannot be raised as a ground to deny permission," the court observed.

The court passed the orders in an urgent hearing on a plea by J Ramesh, District President for BJP Party in Coimbatore District challenging the Assistant Commissioner's order denying permission to conduct a road show on March 18th, in light of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's arrival in Coimbatore.

Ramesh had submitted that the PM was scheduled to arrive at Coimbatore and meet the people on March 18^th and on this occasion, the party proposed to conduct a road show for a span of 4 kms via Mettupalayam Road, Coimbatore to enable people to meet the PM. It was submitted that the road show was to sensitize people about the welfare schemes of the Government and to promote anti-drug habits in light of the recent incident of drug trafficking in the State.

Ramesh informed the court that when permission was sought for the road show, the Assistant Commissioner, RS Puram Range declined the same even though the party was willing to abide by any conditions imposed to conduct the road show. Ramesh thus argued that the denial of permission was arbitrary and against the fundamental rights under Article 19 of the Constitution.

Ramesh argued that the apprehension of the Assistant Commissioner was unreasonable and there was no instance in the history of BJP rallies where a distortion of public order took place.

Ramesh even submitted that the roadshow was proposed to be conducted after office hours on a spacious road and thus would not affect the smooth flow of traffic. He added that the party's public meetings were often followed by the actions of Swatch Bharat and the party members themselves took a sanitation initiative and cleaned the premises.

The police authorities had rejected the permission on the grounds of law and order issues. It was pointed out that the road on which the proposed roadshow was to be conducted goes through areas covering Hospitals, Commercial Establishments, Government Offices, Educational Institutions, etc., and thus would affect the free movement of the general public during peak hours. It was also pointed out that the public examinations were going on for Students in 10th and 12th standard and the proposed road show would disturb their preparation. The authorities had also argued that the proposed area was a communally sensitive area and it would be difficult to provide security arrangements for the Prime Minister. 

The court, however, rejected the objections raised by the authorities. With respect to the ongoing exams, the court said that since the roadshow was to take place after 5pm, there was no occasion to cause disturbance to the students who were preparing for the exams.

Regarding the security concerns, the court observed that the PM was provided with SPG cover at all times which would take over the security arrangements to ensure that the visit takes place in a smooth manner. The court added that the state police was expected to provide support to the SPG and communal sensitivity could not be a ground to deny permission. 

Citation: 2024 LiveLaw (Mad) 113

Case Title: J Ramesh Kumar v Commissioner of Police

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