CHENNAI: “Is carrying the national flag in a procession a sinful act?” wondered Justice V Lakshminarayanan of the Madras high court on Friday. He questioned whether Coimbatore, where permission for a procession was denied by the local administration, was part of Pakistan or Afghanistan, as restrictions were imposed against carrying the national flag during the proposed procession.The court made the observations while hearing a plea moved by J Rameshkumar, a BJP functionary, challenging the denial of permission for an Independence Day rally in Coimbatore on Aug 15.On Friday, when the plea came up for hearing, the Coimbatore police submitted that permission had been denied because the petitioner had sought to conduct the procession on a major road in Coimbatore.The proposed route was a crowded area with schools, colleges and a bus stop, and, therefore, permission could not be granted. The route sought by the petitioner was not a permissible one for conducting a procession and that allowing it could lead to law-and-order issues, police said.The court was further informed that permission could be granted for processions at the 12 designated locations in Coimbatore and that the govt was not preventing anyone from carrying the national flag.Recording the submissions, the judge said, “Freedom fighter Tirupur Kumaran died holding the national flag during the freedom struggle. In such a country, why should there be a restriction on carrying the national flag? Why is the police refusing permission to conduct a procession carrying the national flag? They (the petitioners) are also in India. Is carrying the national flag in a procession a sinful act?”The court then pointed out that permission had earlier been denied for a procession by the Thanthai Periyar Dravidar Kazhagam (TPDK) and now for BJP and questioned whether permission was being granted only to ruling TVK.The court then directed the police to grant permission for the rally on Aug 18 from ARC junction on the Mettupalayam Road to Chinthamani in North Coimbatore from 4pm to 7pm.