'Difficult For Court To Frame Pan-India SOP For Rallies' : Supreme Court Asks Petitioner To Approach MHA & ECI

The Supreme Court on Thursday disposed of a PIL seeking a Standard Operating Procedure for rallies, gatherings and demonstrations to avert stampede incidents, by allowing the petitioner to pursue the representation submitted by him before the Ministry of Home Affairs.

The Court also gave liberty to the petitioner to submit the representation before the Election Commission of India for a Standard Operating Procedure for political rallies and roadshows.

Observing that "it is very difficult" for the Court to issue blanket and pan-India directions, the bench comprising Chief Justice of India Surya Kant, Justice Joymalya Bagchi and Justice Vipul Pancholi declined interference. However, the Court directed that the Union of India may consider a representation sent by the petition in this regard.

"The issue revolves around the responsibility of Union/States to maintain law and order in public events in public places. The directions sought are essentially for the formulation of a policy for which the domain experts and the law enforcement agencies are more suitable. Since the petitioner has already approached the Ministry of Home Affairs, we deem it appropriate to dispose of the writ petition at this stage, without expressing any opinion on its merits, to enable the petitioner to pursue the representation before the Union of India. The petitioner may also submit the writ petition/representation to the Election Commission of India. We leave it to the competent authorities to consider the petitioner's suggestions and take an appropriate decision, if they deem it appropriate," the Court observed.

The bench was hearing a petition filed by Tumbalam Gooty Venkatesh, a former member of parliament of Rajya Sabha representing Andhra Pradesh and State Minister.

Advocate G Priyadharshni, for the petitioner, referred to the stampedes which took place during the RCB victory rally in Bengaluru in June last year as well as in Karur during the political rally of TVK party in September 2025.

CJI Surya Kant wondered if the Court could issue general directions. "Is it possible to comply with such directions? let's not issue anything which will become unmanageable?...Suppose the rally is to take place in Chennai, we issue direction that ground size can accommodate 10000 people so you will not permit more than 10000 and the direction should be complied with. If 50000 people come, what to do? "CJI asked.

The counsel submitted that recently, the Court had entertained a matter seeking SOP to regulate homes for the mentally challenged. She pointed out that recently, the State of Tamil Nadu came up with an SOP for political rallies after the intervention of the Madras High Court.  "We have an SOP for political rallies in Tamil Nadu but we don't have it another States. So the court may interfere and give us at least a minimum benchmark," she submitted.

"How to stop people from coming? Can you really curtail the right of persons to participate and prevent them? These are all the issues," CJI wondered.

"But lives are being lost because there are no proper guidelines. Every single year there is a stampede and unfortunately, there is no legal definition for the term stampede also," she urged.

When the bench asked why the petitioner could not approach the concerned authority, the counsel replied that a representation was sent to the MHA last month. The CJI noted that the writ petition was filed within a few days of submitting the representation, without leaving any time for the authority to act upon it.

The bench proceeded to dispose of the petition allowing the petitoner to pursue his representation.

The petitioner sought the formulation of mandatory national guidelines to control and manage crowds at political rallies and other large public gatherings.

The plea highlights that several unfortunate incidents have occurred in the past due to inadequate crowd management and submits that the absence of a national policy or statutory Standard Operating Procedures has resulted in repeated failures to ensure public safety.

The petitioner therefore sought directions to the Union of India and the Election Commission of India to frame comprehensive guidelines governing political rallies across the country.

Among the key reliefs sought is the formulation of a dedicated centralised digital platform for assessing and regulating political rallies nationwide. The plea also called for the establishment of a National Crowd Management and Safety Code incorporating provisions for real-time surveillance, risk audits, and the application of modern technology at all major public gathering venues. The petition contended that such institutionalised mechanisms are essential to prevent stampedes, overcrowding, and other safety hazards during large-scale political events.

The petition was drafted by Rahul Shyam Bhandari, G Priyadharshni and Satyam Pathak, Advocates and filed by AOR Rahul Shyam Bhandari.

Case : TUMBALAM GOOTY VENKATESH Vs UNION OF INDIA | W.P.(C) No. 40/2026