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Karnataka High Court declines to limit stay on government order restricting public gatherings

A Karnataka High Court bench of Justice M Nagaprasanna didn't accept Advocate-General Shashikiran Shetty's contention that it was only the petitioners who had a grievance in the case.

2 min readBengaluruNov 19, 2025 01:24 AM IST

Karnataka High Court, Karnataka HC, Karnataka order on public gatherings, Karnataka RSS route march, Indian express news, current affairs

The bench did not accept Advocate-General Shashikiran Shetty's contention that it was only the petitioners who had a grievance in the case.

The Karnataka High Court on Monday declined to limit a stay it had passed on a government order restricting public gatherings on public property without prior permission. The Government had sought the restriction of the stay so that it would benefit only the petitioners in the case.

The matter was heard by a bench of Justice M Nagaprasanna.

The government order restraining gatherings came at the same time the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) was planning to conduct route marches to mark the organisation’s centenary. It also followed statements made by Congress leaders such as IT Minister Priyank Kharge against RSS gatherings being held on government and public property.

Several groups and individuals, including one Punashchetana Seva Samsthe, had approached the high court arguing that the government order was violative of fundamental rights. Justice Nagaprasanna then granted an interim stay on the order, noting that if a fundamental right had to be abridged, it had to normally be done through a law and not an executive decision. A division bench of the court dismissed an appeal against this interim stay on November 6.

After the Government put forth its suggestion on restricting the stay during Monday’s hearing, the bench stated, “For a government order, how can it (the stay) be restricted to the petitioners?”

The bench did not accept Advocate-General Shashikiran Shetty’s contention that it was only the petitioners who had a grievance in the case.

The bench stated, “The government order cannot be restricted only to the petitioners and allow it to become only operational against others. The matter would require objections to be filed by the State and final disposal by this court.”

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The court then listed the matter for further hearing on the afternoon of December 15.