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2026 Supreme(Online)(Mad) 41764
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT MADRAS
R. Vijayakumar, J
Dharmaraj – Appellant
Versus
Commissioner of Police, Trichy City – Respondent
Writ Petition
For the Appellants/Petitioners: T.J. Ebenezer Charles
For the Respondents: Abdul Kalam Azad
An administrative order denying permission for a public cultural event based solely on speculative apprehensions of potential obscenity or law and order problems is unsustainable and liable to be set aside.
Headnote:The case concerns a challenge to an order by the police authority denying permission for a cultural program during a temple festival. Under Article 226 of the Constitution of India, the petitioner sought to quash the rejection order predicated on apprehended disturbances. The court found that the rejection was based merely on presumptions of possible obscenity rather than concrete evidence of potential disorder. The core issue is whether police can preemptively deny permission for cultural events based on speculative grounds of illegality. The court held that administrative orders cannot be sustained on vague presumptions, emphasizing that individuals should be allowed to conduct religious or cultural events, provided they adhere to norms. The ratio establishes that state authorities must not infringe upon the right to conduct public functions based on conjecture. The writ petition is allowed with directions to permit the event, subject to police intervention if any prohibited activities occur.
| Table of Content |
|---|
| 1. challenge to denial of permission for religious event. (Para 1) |
| 2. prohibition of arbitrary administrative decisions based on mere conjectures. (Para 2) |
ORDER
The present writ petition has been filed to quash the impugned order passed by the second respondent dated 11.05.2026 wherein the request of the petitioner for conducting adal padal programme has been rejected on the apprehension of law and order problem and obscene songs and dances.
2.On a perusal of the impugned order, it reveals that the impugned order has been passed based on certain presumptions that obscene songs and dances are likely to be performed in the temple function. Since the impugned order is passed based upon presumptions, it is set aside. The the second respondent is directed to grant permission for conducting the event. However, it is made clear that in case of any obscene songs and dances are perfomred, the police authorities are entitled to interfere and stop the function.
3.With the aforesaid directions, this writ petition is allowed. No costs.
