As the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) continues to gain wider acceptance among the public, opponents of the organisation often attempt to defame the Sangh or discredit its activities by raising questions about its legal status and registration.
In the last 100 years, the RSS has clarified its legal status on numerous occasions and across several platforms. However, such questions continue to be raised, often creating confusion among the public. Even Karnataka Minister Priyank Kharge raised this issue on social media rather than seeking clarification through official government channels, which have both the authority and access to obtain the relevant information. Instead, he chose to raise the matter publicly on social media, appearing more interested in scoring political points than in genuinely understanding the organisation’s legal status.
During a question-and-answer session in Thrissur on June 14, RSS Sarsanghchalak Mohan Bhagwat, on the legality of RSS and its registration, answered “I don’t need to respond. There are so many unregistered things going on, and we are not secretive. We are working in the open. We are calling people and telling them about the Sangh. This is politics, and all these gimmicks are being tried. We are used to it. After 10–15 years of the Sangh’s existence, we had to face all these things. We are used to it…Hindu Dharma is not registered. Many things are not registered…The government banned us twice, and those bans were lifted once by court order and again through Satyagraha. So the government knows the RSS exists. If they banned the RSS, it means they recognised its existence…All this is politics, nothing serious. They want, on one hand, to hamper the Sangh’s work and, on the other, create doubts in the minds of people. But that is no longer possible because people know us. They say we are secretive. Our karyakartas live in all localities. People see them every day. Our shakhas are held in open grounds. People see them daily. We have public programmes…”
#WATCH | Thrissur | Reacting to Karnataka Minister Priyank Kharge's statement, RSS Chief Mohan Bhagwat says, "I don't need to respond. There are so many unregistered things going on, and we are not secretive. We are working in the open. We are calling people and telling them… pic.twitter.com/3zDXPJVZp4
— ANI (@ANI) June 16, 2026
Similarly, at event RSS event in Bangalore on November 9, 2025 at Bengaluru. The Sangh has continued its dialogue with eminent persons of society, policymakers, and social workers in its 100th year as well, and in Bengaluru, on this November 8 and 9, RSS Sarasanghchalak Dr. Mohan Bhagwat will speak in a special lecture series and answered the similar question.
Question: Why RSS is not a registered organization? Is that by chance? Is that by choice or to avoid legal obligation? Why RSS does not address its misconceptions directly registration funding etc.
Answer: As for the answer it has been given times but those who want to raise the questions they go on repeating the questions. So repeatedly we have to answer it. This is not the first time this point was raised. You know RSS started in 1925. So do you expect us to register with the British government against whom our Sangh was fighting at that time. Then after independence the laws we had in we have now in Swatantra Bharat they do not make registration compulsory the legal status is also given to unregistered body of individuals. So we are categorized as body of individuals and we are a recognized organization. So income tax department asked us to pay income tax and there was litigation. Income tax department said the court said this is a body of individual and our guru was exempted from that income tax.
“We were banned thrice. So government has recognized if we were not there whom they banned and each time courts resolved the ban they dismissed the ban and made RSS a legal organization. So many times questions are asked in assembly in parliament statements are given pro or ants all this is not without recognition legally actually we are an organization it is we are not unconstitutional we are within that constitution our status legal status is within that constitution so we need not register. Many things are there which are not registered. Even Hindu dharma is not registered,” he added
