"Why So Much Hurry?"Madras High Court Asks Actor Vijay's Party To Submit Fresh Representation For Protest, Asks Police To Decide

The Madras High Court disposed of a petition filed by actor Vijay's Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) party to hold a protest over the custodial death of one Ajith Kumar in Sivaganga District. The court asked the party to submit a fresh representation to the state police seeking permission for the protest. The party had initially planned to conduct the protest on July 6th (Sunday).

Justice P Velmurugan said that the party should give adequate time to the State to consider its representation. The court made the comment, noting that the representation for permission was made by the party on July 1, and the party had approached the court on July 4th. The court orally remarked that the police have a lot of other work and could not be expected to deal only with the party's representation.

"Why are you in so much hurry? The police have a lot of other work. They can't be expected to only deal with your work. You should at least give them 15 days to decide on the representation," the judge orally remarked. 

The judge then asked the party to submit a fresh representation with a new date for conducting the protest and asked the police to decide on the new representation.

In the morning, when the party's counsel sought an urgent hearing of the petition, the court had rejected the request and said that it would be heard on Monday, after being numbered. The judge had also suggested that the party postpone its protest, which was scheduled to be held on Sunday. The judge had also orally remarked that the party should raise awareness about other social issues and crimes.

In the afternoon, the party's counsel again mentioned the case before the judge, after the petition was numbered. To this, the court again asked why the party was in a hurry to organise the protest without giving time to the authorities to decide on the representation.

Vijay's party had approached the court after getting no response from the State police on an application made on July 1, 2025, seeking permission to conduct the protest. The party had thus sought direction from the police to grant permission to conduct the public demonstration on 6th July from 10 AM to 1 PM at Sivananda Salai, Chennai, or on any date fixed by the court.

The TVK party had decided to hold a peaceful public demonstration condemning the recent custodial killing of Ajith Kumar in Sivagangai. A written representation was submitted to the Commissioner of Police, Greater Chennai, which was acknowledged and forwarded to the Deputy Superintendent of Police, Triplicane Range. However, no response was received on the representation.

It was submitted that upon inquiry, the party was informed that the proposed venue was unavailable. Following this, another representation was submitted by the party's Deputy General Secretary, CTR. Nirmal Kumar, but no written permission or communication was received till date.

The party had thus argued that the authorities' failure to consider the representation was arbitray, unreasonable and violative of the principles of natural justice. It was also argued that the non-consideration of the representation amounted to dereliction of statutory duty. The party argued that the state was obliged to facilitate peaceful democratic expression and could not impose a blanket silence. Hence, arguing that the fundamental right under Article 19(1)(b) [right to assemble peacefully] was being violated, the party had approached the court for necessary orders.

The court has now disposed of the plea, directing the party to submit a fresh representation.

Case Title: Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) v. The Commissioner of Police and Another

Citation: 2025 LiveLaw (Mad) 228

Case No: WP Crl 253 of 2025