Chittapur town in Kalaburagi district was decorated for the RSS centenary march. | Photo credit: SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT
The Karnataka High Court, in a special session on Sunday, directed the Kalaburagi district administration to submit a report by October 24 on the action taken to allow the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh’s (RSS) revised proposal to hold a pathasanhalana (route march) in Chittapur on November 2 instead of October 19 as had been proposed earlier.
Justice MGS Kamala passed the interim order on a petition filed by Ashok Patil, the organizer of the RSS march in Chittapur.
The petitioner questioned the legality of the Chittapur tahsildar’s decision to deny permission for the march on 18 October citing that there could be a law and order problem as two other organisations, the Bhim Army and the Bharatiya Dalit Panthers, had also proposed to hold a rally on the same day, at the same time, at the same place as proposed by the RSS.
Although the tahsildar initially sought more information from the petitioner about the October 19 march, he later refused permission, saying that he had obtained information about two other rallies.
The petitioner approached the tahsildar on October 17 as an application made on October 13 to the Chittapur civic body and the circle inspector of police for permission to march was ignored.
During the hearing, the court asked senior advocate Aruna Shyam, appearing for the petitioner, whether it would be possible for the petitioner and his organization to hold the event on another date. To this, the senior advocate said that November 2 would be suitable and asked the court to direct the authorities to allow the event based on the application made to hold the march on October 19.
Although state advocate general Shashi Kiran Shetty said the district administration could provide a designated venue for the petitioner’s event, he told the court that authorities would consider the request for a march, pointing out that judicial precedents would indicate that taking out processions on public streets was discouraged and frowned upon.
Meanwhile, the court noted the undertaking given on behalf of the petitioner that the RSS, which has already conducted more than 250 route marches without any untoward incident, would ensure that peace, tranquility and harmony are maintained in its proposed route march in Chittapur as well.
The court noted that the Supreme Court’s judgment affirming the fundamental right to peaceably assemble and move freely throughout the country also suggests that the power of the state, which has the primary responsibility for maintaining public order, to impose reasonable restrictions does not amount to arbitrary exclusion.
The next hearing was adjourned to October 24.
Published – 19 Oct 2025 20:41 IST
