"Political Parties Have A Right To Agitate": Madras High Court In Plea Against Signature Campaign Launched By DMK Against NEET

The bench of Chief Justice SV Gangapurwala and Justice D Bharatha Chakravarthy was hearing a public interest litigation filed by Advocate ML Ravi.

"A person may launch a campaign against anything. How can you oppose that. If a particular party wants to agitate against something, they have the right to do that. You can't have a problem with that. But if a decision is taken, which according to you is against the public policy then you can challenge that. There should be a limit to filing these petitions," the court orally remarked.

The signature campaign called NEET Vilaku, Nam Ilakku (Abolishing NEET is our goal) was launched by the Tamil Nadu Sports and Youth Development Minister Udayanidhi Stalin to obtain 50 lakh signatures in 50 days seeking to abolish the NEET exam. The signatures collected will then be sent to President Draupadi Murmu.

In his plea against the campaign, Ravi submitted that NEET was already enacted and implemented and the challenge against NEET had also attained finality. He further submitted that a Minister, who was an implementing agent could not announce such protests which were against the law already enacted. He further added that though the Constitution guarantees every person a right to protest, a Minister was expected to bear true faith and allegiance to the constitution and law.

Ravi added that the DMK was taking advantage of being the ruling party and such political activity should not be permitted inside schools without any permission from the parents of the students. He also pointed out that the campaign may disturb a students calibre and give a wrong notion that they need not get equipped for NEET examinations and the student may lose out on their opportunity.

The court however questioned Ravi on how he was affected with a political party carrying out a campaign. The court then directed Ravi to deposit one lakh rupees after which Ravi informed the court that he'll withdraw the plea.

Citation: 2023 LiveLaw (Mad) 335

Case Title: ML Ravi v The Secretary and Others

Case No: WP 31508 of 2023