NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Monday ordered a status quo to be maintained regarding the issue of flagpoles, following a petition filed by P. Shanmugam, the State Secretary of the Communist Party of India (CPI) in Tamil Nadu.
A two-judge bench comprising Justice Vikram Nath and Justice Sandeep Mehta issued the directive while hearing the petition.
"Issue notice, returnable within four weeks. Until further orders, the parties are to maintain status quo with respect to the subject flagpoles, as it exists today," the bench stated.
This development comes in the wake of a dismissal of a Special Leave Petition (SLP) by the Supreme Court, which upheld a prior ruling of the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court. That ruling had directed all political parties and organisations to remove permanent flagpoles erected in public spaces, including national highways and government lands.
Following the Supreme Court’s dismissal of the SLP, another related application, pending before Justice G.R. Swaminathan, was disposed of, citing the apex court’s order. In response, the matter was brought before the Supreme Court again, prompting Monday’s status quo directive.
Earlier, on 11 August, the Supreme Court had rejected an appeal and affirmed the High Court’s order requiring the removal of unauthorised flagpoles in public areas. That appeal had been filed by Kathiravan, who had challenged the Madras High Court’s judgment, after his application to erect a flagpole for the AIADMK in Palanganatham, Madurai was denied by the Assistant Divisional Engineer.
Counsel for Kathiravan argued that the High Court had exceeded the scope of the original plea, issuing broader directions than the relief sought.
The Supreme Court has now directed that the current status of the disputed flagpoles be maintained until further orders, with the matter expected to come up again after four weeks.