P.Shanmugam v. The State Rep by

BEFORE THE MADURAI BENCH OF MADRAS HIGH COURT DATED : 13.08.2025 CORAM: THE HONOURABLE MR.JUSTICE S.M.SUBRAMANIAM THE HONOURABLE MR.JUSTICE R.VIJAYAKUMAR and THE HONOURABLE MR.JUSTICE S.SOUNTHAR and C.M.P.(MD) Nos.9711, 13439 & 13440 of 2025 W.A.(MD) Nos.1738 of 2025: P.Shanmugam

... Appellant -vs-

1.The State rep.by the Chief Secretary Government of Tamil Nadu Fort St.George Secretariat Chennai

2.The District Collector Madurai District Madurai

3.The Commissioner Madurai Corporation Arignar Anna Maligai Madurai

4.M.Srinivasan, M/57 S/o.Muniamuthu General Secretary Tamilnadu Government Employees Association Office Address: No.46, Theradi Street Triplicane Chennai-600 005

5.T.S.Mani @ Kolathur Mani, M/76 S/o.Senkodan President Dravidar Viduthalai Kazhagam Office Address: No.95, Dr.Natesan Road Mylapore, Chennai-600 004

6.Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) represented by its General Secretary N.Anand 275, Seashore Town, 8th Avenue Panaiyur, Chennai-600 119

7.R.Mutharasan S/o.Ramasamy Tamilnadu State Secretary Communist Party of India (CPI) No.43/19, Balan Illam Sevaliyar Sivaji Ganesan Salai T.Nagar, Chennai-600 017

8.S.Karthikeyan @ Perarivalan, (M52/2025) S/o.Chitran 306, Sathyamani Muthu Nagar Karumpalai Madurai District

9.Ezhilan S/o.Mariyan State Coordinator Tamil Meenavar Koottamaippu 51A, Ambalakaranpatti Ulaganeri, Madurai, Tamilnadu

10.T.Velmurugan, M/A Years S/o.Thirunavukkarasu Founder and President of "Tamizhaga Vazhurimai Katchi" Head Office at No.159, Near Omkar Medical Distributors Pvt. Ltd., Opposite Valasaravakkam Police Station Tirupathi Nagar, 1st Cross Street Valasaravakkam-600 087

11.Kalaiarasan S/o.Kalimuthu No.4/89, Veerapandipuram Sattur Taluk Virudhunagar District-626 203

12.All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam rep.by its Authorized Signatory R.B.Udhaya Kumar, MLA having office at Puratchi Thalaivar M.G.R.Maaligai 226, Avvai Shanmugam Salai Royapettah, Chennai-600 014

13.Tata Communications Employees Union rep.by its General Secretary Regn.No.131/MDS/1967 No.4, Swami Sivananda Salai Chennai-600 002

14.K.Gopinath S/o.Kuppusamy No.6/1, R.K.Apartment Vivekanandha Nagar College Road, Tirupur

15.S.Karikalacholan S/o.R.Selvaraj Aged 41 years RTI Activist & Former State General Secretary Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) Residing at Door No.936 Annai Indira Nagar 5th Street, Vilar Road Thanjavur-613 006

16.All India Lawyers Union Tamil Nadu State Committee (Rep.by its General Secretary S.Sivakumar Registration No.District Shahdara/ society/836/2016-17) Old No.151, New No.313 Thambu Chetty Street, First Floor Chennai-600 001

17.Dr.M.H.Jawahirullah President Manithaneya Makkal Katchi Headquarters No.6, 3rd Floor, Vadamaraicoir Street Mannady, Chennai Tamil Nadu-600 001

18.Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam rep.by its General Secretary Vaiko New No.12, Rukmani Lakshmipathi Road Egmore, Chennai-600 008

19.PayccalMugaam-Avadi rep.by its President S.Arunkumar Venmanambudur (Old) Kadambathur Post Tiruvallur Taluk & District

20.Desiya Makkal Sakthi Katchi rep.by its President M.L.Ravi No.21/11, Venkatraman Street Chennai-600 079

21.J.Agni Selvaraju S/o.K.Jayakannan Founder & President Naadaalum Makkal Katchi (NMK) Registration No.56/194/2020-2021 No.1/122, South Street Soraiyapattu Village Kazhumaram Post Thirukovilur Taluk Kallakurichi District-605 754

22.A.Vasanth, aged 44 S/o.Arjunan, Hindu 1/178, Puthu Colony Kamalapuram, Omalur Taluk Salem District

23.A.Radhakrishnan

24.Dr.Anbumani Ramadoss S/o.Dr.S.Ramadoss President Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK) No.10, Thilak Street T.Nagar Chennai-600 017

25.Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI) rep.by its State General Secretary S.P.Mohammed Nasuedeen 4/7, Ibrahim Sahib Street Mannady Chennai-600 119

26.A.Shanmugasundaram ... Respondents [R4 to R22 are impleaded vide court order dated 13.08.2025 in C.M.P.(MD) Nos.12426, 12441, 12571, 12673, 12700, 12701, 12776, 12853, 12869, 12873, 12906, 12908, 12933, 12938, 12940, 12946, 12953, 12958 & 12961 of 2025 and R23 to R26 are impleaded vide court order dated 13.08.2025 in C.M.P.

(MD) Nos.13031, 13334 13452 & 13488 of 2025] Writ Appeal filed under Clause 15 of Letters Patent to set aside the order, dated 20.06.2025, passed in W.P.(MD) No.16766 of 2025, on the file of this Court. For Appellant : Mr.N.G.R.Prasad for Mr.R.Thirumoorthy For Respondents : Mr.R.Baskaran Additional Advocate General assisted by Mr.S.P.Maharajan Special Government Pleader for R1 & R2 Ms.S.Devasena Standing Counsel for R3 Mr.R.Thirumoorthy for R4 Mr.T.Mohan, Senior Counsel for Mr.R.Thirumoorthy for R5 Mr.R.Ramasamy for Mr.S.Arivazhagan for R6 Mr.K.K.Samy for R7 Mr.A.V.Saha for R8 Ms.A.Rajini for R9 Mr.K.Gandhi Kumar for R10 Mr.V.Muthumani for R11 Mr.M.Sricharan Rangarajan, Senior Counsel for Mr.E.Balamurugan for R12 Mr.Balan Haridas for Mr.K.Anand for R13 Mr.C.B.Ramalingam for R14 Mr.Alagu Sundar for Ms.Shakiladevi for R15 Mr.K.Elango for R16 Mr.Henri Patrick Tiphange for R17 Mr.R.Murali for R18 Mr.S.Aswin Kumar for R19 Mr.T.Sivagnanasambandam for R20 Mr.N.Balasubramanian for R21 Mr.A.C.Matheswaran for R22 Mr.A.Radha Krishnan Party-in-Person for R23 Mr.K.Balu for R24 Mr.A.Raja Mohamed for R25 Mr.R.Prakasam for R26 W.A.(MD) No.2391 of 2025: Dr.Thol.Thirumavalavan

... Appellant -vs-

1.R.Kathiravan

2.The Divisional Engineer Highways Department Construction and Maintenance Near Thamarai Thotti K.Pudur, Madurai-625 002

3.The Assistant Divisional Engineer Highways Department Construction and Maintenance Sub-Division – Madurai South Near District Court Madurai-625 002

4.The Assistant Engineer Highways Department Construction and Maintenance Sub-Division – Madurai South Near District Court Madurai-625 002

5.The Tahsildar Thiruparankundram Taluk Madurai

6.The Assistant Commissioner of Police Thidir Nagar Circle S.S.Colony Madurai-625 016

7.The Inspector of Police, C-3 Subramaniyapuram Police Station Madurai-625 016 ... Respondents Writ Appeal filed under Clause 15 of Letters Patent to set aside the order, dated 27.01.2025, passed in W.P.(MD) No.29035 of 2024, on the file of this Court. For Appellant : Mr.D.Parventhan For Respondents : Mr.R.Baskaran Additional Advocate General assisted by Mr.S.P.Maharajan Special Government Pleader for R2 to R5 Mr.T.Senthil Kumar for R6 & R7 C O M M O N O R D E R [Order of the Court was made by S.M.SUBRAMANIAM, J.] The present Full Bench has been constituted pursuant to the orders of the Division Bench dated 26.06.2025 in W.A.(MD) No.1738 of 2025.

¶2The facts in nutshell shows that W.P.(MD) No.29035, 29217 & 30354 of 2024 had been instituted seeking a direction to the authorities concerned to grant permission to erect flagpoles by the political parties. The learned Single Judge of this Court elaborately considered the issues in the context of the Statutes and Rules applicable and passed an order on

27.01.2025 by issuing number of directions in Paragraph No.43, which are extracted hereunder: "(i) All the political parties and all organizations such as Community, Religion, Association etc., are directed to remove their flagpoles which are erected permanently in all over Tamil Nadu in the public places and land belongs to the National Highways, State Highways, Corporations, Municipalities, Local Bodies and other Departments, within a period of twelve weeks from today, failing which, the authorities concerned are directed to remove the flagpoles by issuing two weeks notice and in accordance with law. After removal of flagpoles, the authorities concerned are directed to recover the cost of removal of flagpoles from the respective political parties.

(ii) All the authorities concerned shall not grant any permission to erect flagpoles permanently in the public places and land belongs to the National Highways, State Highways, Corporations, Municipalities, Local Bodies and other Departments by the political parties and other organizations such as Community, Religion or any Association in the public place and the land owned by the Department of National Highways, State Highways, Corporation, Municipality and Local Bodies.

(iii) The political parties and other organizations are permitted to erect their permanent flagpoles in their own land that too after obtaining necessary permission from the authority concerned. In this regard, the State Government is directed to frame Rules for erection of flagpoles in the private land.

(iv) The authorities concerned can permit the political parties to erect their flagpoles temporarily without causing any damage to the land during their meetings, election campaign, conferences, procession, dharna and functions etc., on payment of rent in advance, as may be prescribed, in accordance with law.

(v) The authorities must ensure that after the period of permission/licence to erect temporary flagpole, the person who was granted permission/licence shall restore the public places to its original position by cleaning and filling up the holes, if any. If any damage caused, the cost to be paid to the concerned authorities.

(vi) The Head of the Department of concerned authorities and all District Collectors must ensure that the concerned authorities shall comply with the above directions and monitor from time to time.

(vii) The Registry is directed to circulate this order to all the District Collectors for strict compliance. The Chief Secretary shall ensure compliance of this order.

¶3The said order has been taken to the Division Bench of this Court by way of an appeal under Clause 15 of the Letters Patent in W.A.(MD) No.485 of 2025 by one Mr.Ammavasithevar. The Division Bench of this Court, vide Judgment dated 06.03.2025 confirmed the orders of the learned Single Judge dated 27.01.2025 and dismissed the writ appeal.

¶4Yet another writ petition in W.P.(MD) No.16766 of 2025 was filed by one Mr.P.Shanmugam seeking a direction to forbear the authorities concerned from removing the flagpoles of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) in Madurai. The said writ petition was dismissed by the learned Single Judge by an order dated 20.06.2025, on the ground that the issues raised in the said writ petition are no more res integra and the learned Single Judge has already passed a detailed order on 27.01.2025 in W.P.(MD) Nos. 29035, 29217 & 30354 of 2024.

¶5Challenging the order dated 20.06.2025, a writ appeal in W.A.

(MD) No.1738 of 2025 was filed by the writ petitioner Mr.P.Shanmugam. Another Division Bench of this Court passed an order in the said writ appeal on 26.06.2025. The relevant portion of the said order reads as follows: "4.The learned senior counsel for the appellant submitted that this order was passed without putting the political parties and organizations on notice. Prima facie, we find that there is violation of principles of natural justice. He would also point out that a number of flagpoles have already been erected in public places after getting permission from the authorities and calling upon the parties to remove them at this point of time may not be appropriate. Paragraph No.43(iii) also states that the political parties and other organizations must obtain permission to erect their permanent flagpoles even in their own lands. For erecting flagpoles of normal height, permission may not be necessary. In more than one case, the Hon'ble Division Bench has held that even statues can be erected in a private place without getting permission. The learned senior counsel also contended that the a Judge sitting singly may not be justified in issuing such direction.

5.Since a Coordinate Division Bench had already taken a view, this writ appeal will have to be considered by a Bench of larger strength.

6.We direct the Registry to place the papers before the Hon'ble Chief Justice to consider constituting a Larger Bench to decide this appeal."

¶6In view of the above order, this Full Bench has been constituted as per the directions of the Honourable Chief Justice of the High Court of Madras.

¶7This Full Bench commenced its proceedings and in order to afford an opportunity to all the parties, who made mentioning, a paper publication was made enabling the political parties to implead themselves as party respondents in the pending proceedings before this Full Bench. Pursuant to the same, several persons / political parties filed miscellaneous petitions seeking their impleadment in the pending proceedings for making their submissions on the issues.

¶8During the intermittent, Mr.Ammavasi Thevar, who is the writ appellant in W.A.(MD) No.485 of 2025, filed a Special Leave Petition in SLP(C) No.20885 of 2025 challenging the Judgment dated 06.03.2025 in W.A.(MD) No.485 of 2025 confirming the order of the learned Single Judge dated

27.01.2025 passed in W.P.(MD) Nos.29035, 29217 & 30354 of 2024. The Honourable Supreme Court of India dismissed the Special Leave Petition by an order dated 08.08.2025.

¶9In view of the fact that the Honourable Supreme Court of India has confirmed the orders of the learned Single Judge dated 27.01.2025 made in W.P.(MD) Nos.29035, 29217 & 30354 of 2024, which was confirmed by the Division Bench of this Court vide Judgment dated 06.03.2025 in W.A.(MD) No. 485 of 2025, no further adjudication needs to be undertaken in respect of the grounds raised in the present writ appeals before this Full Bench. However, it is for the respective parties to work out their remedy in the manner known to law.

¶10With the above observation, these writ appeals are disposed of. No costs. Consequently, connected miscellaneous petitions are closed. [S.M.S., J.] [R.V., J.] [S.S., J.]

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krk To:

1.The Chief Secretary, Government of Tamil Nadu, Fort St.George, Secretariat, Chennai.

2.The District Collector, Madurai District, Madurai.

3.The Divisional Engineer, Highways Department, Construction and Maintenance, Near Thamarai Thotti, K.Pudur, Madurai-625 002.

4.The Assistant Divisional Engineer, Highways Department, Construction and Maintenance, Sub-Division – Madurai South, Near District Court, Madurai-625 002.

5.The Assistant Engineer, Highways Department, Construction and Maintenance, Sub-Division – Madurai South, Near District Court, Madurai-625 002.

6.The Tahsildar, Thiruparankundram Taluk, Madurai.

7.The Assistant Commissioner of Police, Thidir Nagar Circle, S.S.Colony, Madurai-625 016.

8.The Inspector of Police, C-3, Subramaniyapuram Police Station, Madurai-625 016. S.M.SUBRAMANIAM,AJ. AR.VIJAYAKUMARAA,AJA. AND S.SOUNTHAR,AJ. krk W.A.(MD)ANos.1738A&A2391AofA2025 and C.M.P.(MD)ANos.9711,A13439A&A13440A ofA2025

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