Chennai: The Tamil Nadu government has notified a comprehensive Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) to regulate and manage public gatherings across the State, in compliance with a series of directions issued by the Madras High Court. This comes against the backdrop of the death of 41 people in a stampede in Karur district at a political rally attended by actor-politician Vijay.
The SOP issued through a Government Order, dated January 5, lays down uniform guidelines for granting permissions, assessing risk, managing crowds and ensuring safety during public meetings, processions, road shows, demonstrations and similar events.
The government order follows multiple writ petitions heard by the High Court in 2025, where the court had directed the State to evolve a structured mechanism to balance citizens’ right to assemble peacefully with the responsibility of the State to maintain public order and safety.
According to the SOP, the new framework will apply to all public gatherings in Tamil Nadu where the anticipated number of participants exceeds 5,000. Smaller gatherings will continue to be governed by existing procedures. The SOP will not apply to religious gatherings held at traditionally notified venues or routes.
Event organisers will now be required to submit detailed applications to the jurisdictional police authorities within prescribed timelines, depending on the scale and nature of the event. Applications must specify the venue, expected crowd size, duration, route details in the case of processions, parking arrangements, traffic diversions, emergency services, medical aid, sanitation facilities and fire safety measures.
District Collectors have been directed to notify designated public gathering venues within their jurisdictions, in consultation with the police and other stakeholder departments. Each venue must have a certified crowd-holding capacity, which will be periodically reviewed to ensure safety and structural stability.
The SOP introduces a risk-based classification of events — low, moderate and high risk — with corresponding norms for police deployment and security arrangements. Organisers are mandated to deploy trained volunteers for crowd regulation, ensure adequate drinking water, toilets and medical facilities, and install CCTV cameras covering the event area.
For processions and road shows, the SOP stipulates that not more than half the width of the road may be occupied, in order to avoid disruption to general traffic. Specific conditions have also been laid down for movement of VIP convoys and public addresses.
Event Safety Monitoring Committees at the district and taluk levels will oversee compliance. Police authorities may impose conditions, reject applications with written reasons, or take action, including revocation of permission, in case of violations. Post-event compliance reports have been made mandatory.
The government said the SOP is intended to supplement existing laws and may be reviewed and modified based on implementation experience.
