Institute of Legal and Management Studies

The Supreme Court recently dismissed a challenge to the Madras High Court order which directed all political parties and other organizations to remove permanent flagpoles erected by them in public places, including national highways and government land.

A bench of Justices JK Maheshwari and Vijay Bishnoi heard the matter.

The petitioner's counsel assailed the direction for removal of flagpoles from public places and argued that the High Court passed a variety of directions, even though the relief sought in the underlying case was limited.

In response, Justice Maheshwari asked, "how can you use government land for political benefits?". The judge further highlighted that the scope of High Court's jurisdiction under Article 226 of the Constitution is wide in nature. As such, the petition was dismissed.

Vide the impugned order, a Single Bench of the Madras High Court ordered all political parties, communal and other organizations in the State to remove permanent flagpoles erected by them on public places including national highways, lands belonging to the government, etc.

Justice GK Ilanthiraiyan of the Madurai bench directed the concerned parties to comply within 12 weeks, failing which the authorities concerned were to take appropriate action after issuing notice to the parties. The Court added that the authorities could, in such a case, recover the cost of removal from the concerned parties.

The Court passed the orders on a plea filed by one Kathiravan challenging an order of the Assistant Divisional Engineer rejecting his request to erect a flag pole of the AIADMK party in Palanganatham, Madurai city.

While dismissing the application, the Court remarked that there was no law that permitted issuing licenses to install permanent flagpoles in public places. It added that the police and the revenue authorities did not have jurisdiction to issue a No-Objection certificate allowing the erection of flag poles in public places.

The Court also said that these flagpoles often caused inconvenience to the commuters and affected traffic in some cases. At the same time, it was clarified that there was no restriction on installing flag poles in private patta land by parties during political campaigns, dharnas, public meetings, etc. However, such installations should be subject to rules and must be removed after the meeting.

The Court added that after removing the flag poles, care should also be taken by the organizers to clean the area and return the place to its original condition. It further directed the State to formulate rules for installing flagpoles on private land.

Case Title: AMMAVASITHEVAR Versus K.R. CHITHAN AND ORS., SLP(C) No. 20885/2025