While allowing the Coimbatore BJP District President to carry out a tricolour rally, the Madras High Court has observed that the displaying the national flag is a fundamental right under Article 19(1)(a) as well as a fundamental duty under Article 51A(a) and the police cannot arbitrarily restrict the same.

The petitioner sought a direction to the respondent authorities to grant permission to the petitioner to conduct the Tricolour Flag Yatra on August 13, 2026, along the alternate route proposed in the representation.

The Single Bench of Justice V. Lakshminarayanan stated, “At this moment, I should also point out that while displaying the Flag is a fundamental right under Article 19(1)(a), it is also a fundamental duty under Article 51A(a) of the Constitution. This Article demands that every Indian citizen shall abide by the Constitution and respect its ideals and institutions, the National Flag and the National Anthem.”

“As discussed, if it is both a fundamental right and a fundamental duty of a citizen, the Police cannot arbitrarily restrict the same. When this right of the citizen is interfered with by any of the State instrumentalities, Article 14 directs this court to strike down such actions”, it added.

Advocate A.Kumaraguru represented the Petitioner while Counsel for Government of Tamil Nadu (Crl.Side) Arun Anbumani represented the Respondent.

Factual Background

The petitioner claiming to be a member and the Coimbatore District President of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), proposed to conduct various programme throughout the country as a part of the celebrations connected with the Independence Day. The petitioner’s unit proposed to conduct a Tricolor Flag Yatra in Coimbatore City on August 13, 2026. In pursuance to this proposal, the petitioner sought permission from the Commissioner of Police to commence the Flag Yatra from 4 PM to 7 PM on August 13, 2026. The said application was rejected on the ground that the route proposed by the petitioner, if adopted for the Flag Yatra, would result in breach of peace, causing inconvenience to the public as well as create a law and order problem.

In order to arrive at these conclusions, reliance was placed upon G.O.Ms.No.5, Home (Police-VIII) Department, Government of Tamil Nadu dated January 5, 2026 and an earlier order passed by the High Court. Aggrieved thereby, the petitioner appraoched the High Court.

Reasoning

On a perusal of the facts of the case, the Bench noted that the impugned order was similar to the famous incident on the banks of the Noyyal river in the old Coimbatore District where one man lost his life on account of upholding the Indian National Flag during the Independence Movement. “India was then under the rule of men and not rule of law as it is now. The British Colonial system could not accept a native could protest and as an expression of his nationalistic feeling to carry a flag and assert Independence”, it stated.

“Fast forwarding the situation 79 years after this Country has obtained Independence, it is the intention of the petitioner to implement the policy that has been developed by his political party and respect the National Flag by taking out a rally. Irrespective of the party to which a person belongs, as long as he is under the protective Flag of this Nation, he is duty bound to respect it. There are legislations and a separate Flag Code which deals with this issue”, it noted.

Reference was also made to the SOP issued by the Government on January 5, 2026, for regulation and management of public gatherings in the State of Tamil Nadu.The Government Order further applies only when the expected number of participants exceeds 5000. Considering that the application filed by the writ petitioner did not state that more than 5000 persons were going to assemble in order to respect the National Flag, the Bench held that an attempt to apply the said Government Order gave an impression as if the police had proceeded on the assumption that the said SOP would apply for all rallies, irrespective of the strength of participants and rejected the proposal.

It was brought to the Court’s notice that the route from MTP Road ARC Junction to North Kovai Chinthamani Junction, had been chosen by the petitioner and the Commissioner accepted the same for the purpose of conducting a rally. “The said fact is recorded. The rally shall be conducted on 18.08.2026 between 04.00 PM and 07.00 PM”, it ordered.

Setting aside the impugned order, the Bench stated, “The police will pass consequential order pursuant to the understanding arrived at by the parties and recorded by this Court. It is hoped that in future, the police will ensure that the citizens are not driven to approach the Constitutional Courts in order to secure an order to pay homage to the Nation and its Flag.”

Cause Title: J.Ramesh Kumar v. The State of Tamil Nadu (Case No.: WP Crl. No. 2089 of 2026)

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Madras High CourtJustice V. Lakshminarayanan

Tulip Kanth

Assistant Editor

Tulip Kanth is an Assistant Editor at Verdictum having over 5 years of experience in the field of legal journalism and editing. She extensively covers judgments of the Supreme Court, High Courts as well as Tribunals. She has previously worked with a legal publishing website where she oversaw the work of other editors and has also created updates on notifications of different Government Ministries. She holds an English Honours Degree from SGTB Khalsa College, Delhi University and has completed her LLB course with specialisation in Corporate Law from Amity University.