New Delhi, June 19, 2025 

The Supreme Court of India on Thursday refused to intervene in a petition seeking directions to enable e-pass issuance for devotees attending the upcoming Lord Murugan Conference in Madurai. The Court observed that the matter involved local administrative processes and advised the petitioners to approach the Madras High Court for appropriate relief.

 

The plea was filed by individuals who claimed that accessing the conference had become difficult due to the requirement of vehicle passes and the absence of an online mechanism for e-pass generation. They argued that this system was arbitrary and discriminatory, particularly for devotees coming from distant regions.

 

 

A vacation bench comprising Justice Sandeep Mehta and Justice Prasanna B. Varale heard the matter. The bench noted that the issue did not merit the invocation of Article 32 of the Constitution, which is reserved for the enforcement of fundamental rights.

 

“You must first exhaust the remedies available before the High Court. We cannot force the administration to provide a particular method for pass distribution,” the bench stated, while also noting that an appellate remedy before the High Court had not been pursued.

 

 

The Lord Murugan Conference is scheduled for June 22, 2025, at Amma Thidal, near the Vandiyur Toll Plaza in Madurai. The event is expected to host thousands of devotees and will include religious processions, cultural exhibitions, and spiritual discourses focused on Lord Muruganone of the most venerated deities in Tamil Hindu tradition.

 

The conference is being organized by Hindu Munnani, a socio-religious organization, and features displays of symbolic replicas of Murugan’s six abodes (Arupadai Veedu), attracting significant public participation from across Tamil Nadu and other states.

 

 

The petitioners had argued that the refusal to provide a standardized, online e-pass system disproportionately affected people from remote locations and infringed upon their right to practice religion freely under Article 25. However, the Court reiterated that administrative decisions regarding crowd control, event access, and public order fall within the discretion of state authorities, and any such grievances must be first addressed by the High Court.

 

The petition was withdrawn with liberty to file an appropriate appeal before the Madras High Court, where a related order had already extended the deadline for applying for physical vehicle passes.