Madras High Court Asks Police To Permit Ganesh Idol For Chaturthi Celebration In Tiruppur, Says 'Worship Is A Fundamental Right'
The Madras High Court recently directed the Tiruppur Police to grant permission to the Hindu Munnani to install a Vinayagar (Ganesha) idol in connection with the Vinayaka Chaturthi celebration at Yasin Babu Nagar in Tiruppur.
Justice V Lakshminarayanan directed the police to grant permission on a plea filed by the Executive Committee Member of the Hindu Munnani in Tiruppur.
The petitioner submitted that the organisation proposed to organise Sri Vinayagar Chaturthi festival and procession on September 14, 15, 16 and 17. He added that as part of the celebration, the organisation wanted to install and operate a sound system at the venue, and for the same, an application was submitted on August 11 this year. However, since the application was not acted upon, the organisation had approached the court.
It was submitted that the organisation had been peacefully conducting Vinayaga Chaturthi celebration for the past 12 years with the guidance of the police department. It was submitted that the proposed festival was a religious and cultural event and use of sound system, subject to permissible limit, was necessary for conducting the festival in an orderly manner.
The organisation also submitted that it was willing to comply with any conditions imposed by the police.
When the case came up for hearing previously, the court had orally asked the authorities why the permission was being denied this year, when the same had been granted in the previous years.
The Government Counsel informed the court that the petitioner had initially sought permission to install a sound system, but was now seeking permission to install a Vinayagar idol at the place, where two mosques existed and a large number of Muslims resided. The Government counsel also told the court that no Vinayagar idol had been installed at the place for the past 2 years.
When the plea was taken up on Wednesday (September 9), the court was informed that the petitioner, along with the police authorities, had visited the area and identified a suitable place for installing the idol.
Noting the same, the court disposed the plea by directing the Tiruppur police to grant permission for installation of Vinayagar idol at the identified place. While closing the plea, the court also orally remarked that worship was a fundamental right and the petitioners should not be prevented from installing the idol.
Case Title: S Anbumani v The Superintendent of Police and Another
Citation: 2026 LiveLaw (Mad) 435
Case No: WP Crl 2314 of 2026