India, Aug. 14 -- The Madras High Court on Friday directed the Coimbatore police to grant permission to the BJP to take out a rally carrying the national flag on August 18 to commemorate the 80th Independence Day.

Justice V Lakshminarayanan gave the directive while disposing of a petition filed by J Ramesh, Coimbatore District President of BJP, challenging the police order rejecting his application, seeking permission to conduct a rally on August 13.

When the petition came up for hearing, advocate A Kumaraguru submitted that the BJP wanted to celebrate Independence Day by carrying the national flag across the State. Hence, the petitioner submitted an application, seeking permission. But Coimbatore police refused to grant permission. The...