NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Tuesday agreed to hear on October 10 a plea challenging the Madras High Court’s order refusing a CBI probe into the Karur stampede that occurred during actor and Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) founder Vijay’s political rally on September 27, which left 41 people dead and over 60 injured.
The Bench of Chief Justice B.R. Gavai and Justice K. Vinod Chandran took note of an appeal filed by BJP leader Uma Anandan, who sought a probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) into the tragic incident.
“A plea for a CBI probe has been dismissed whereas a single judge has observed that he is not satisfied with the probe conducted (into the stampede),” the counsel for the petitioner submitted.
On October 3, the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court dismissed a petition to transfer the investigation to the CBI, observing that the probe was still at a nascent stage and that no credible allegations had been raised regarding interference by the State or its machinery. A Division Bench of Justices M. Dhandapani and M. Jothiraman, however, directed the State government not to permit any political party or organisation to hold public meetings on national or State highways until a set of standard operating procedures (SOPs) was framed.
On the same day, the principal Bench in Chennai took a sharply different view. Justice G.R. Swaminathan “highly condemned” the conduct of TVK leaders for having “abandoned the innocent people” who had thronged the venue at Velusamypuram in Karur district just to take a glimpse of Mr. Vijay but ended up losing their lives.” The court described the stampede as a “huge man-made disaster” and said it could not remain a “mute spectator” while so many lives were lost.
Expressing dissatisfaction with the local police investigation and remarking that the State appeared to be “showing leniency” towards the organisers, the Bench ordered the constitution of a Special Investigation Team (SIT) headed by Inspector-General of Police Asra Garg to conduct a comprehensive inquiry into the incident. The SIT was directed to file periodic reports before the court.
According to State police, nearly 27,000 people attended the rally, almost three times the expected turnout of 10,000. The event, held on the Karur–Erode Highway at Velusamypuram, descended into chaos around 8 p.m. when the surging crowd broke past barricades as Mr. Vijay appeared on stage, following a reported delay of over seven hours in his arrival.
Many of the victims were women and children who had travelled from across western Tamil Nadu to see the popular Tamil cinema star. Two people have been arrested so far.
