Tamil Nadu urges Supreme Court to recall order for CBI probe into Karur stampede

The Tamil Nadu government has urged the Supreme Court to recall its interim order directing an inquiry by the Central Bureau of Investigation into the stampede at a Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam party rally in Tamil Nadu's Karur district, which left 41 persons dead, Live Law reported on Tuesday.

In an affidavit, the state said the order effectively granted the petitioner's final relief at an interim stage by taking the investigation away from the state police and putting it under an external supervisory committee.

The Supreme Court ordered a CBI investigation into the stampede on October 13 after hearing multiple petitions, including one from Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam general secretary Aadhav Arjuna.

The party took objection to the High Court forming a Special Investigation Team comprising only officers from the Tamil Nadu Police.

Now the state of Tamil Nadu has argued that the October order, which also suspended the Justice Aruna Jagadeesan Commission and created a three-member supervisory panel led by former Supreme Court judge Ajay Rastogi, “virtually allowed the writ petition” even as questions on the maintainability of the appeal were still pending, Live Law reported.

“There is no prima facie evidence that the investigation conducted by the State Police was tainted, biased, or actuated by mala fides,” The Indian Express quoted the affidavit as saying.

The state further said this approach was inconsistent with previous Supreme Court rulings that a Central Bureau of Investigation probe is an extraordinary measure that should be “used sparingly and cautiously”.

The state said the petitioners relied mainly on media reports, conjecture and political allegations, and had not demonstrated any procedural lapse by the Karur police.

Responding to the Supreme Court's concern that senior police officers had made public comments exonerating the administration, the state said officers are required to provide information during major disasters and that such communication cannot be treated as evidence of bias, The Indian Express reported.

Tamil Nadu also objected to the direction that the supervisory committee include two Indian Police Service officers who are not from the state, arguing that the term amounted to discrimination on the basis of place of birth, The Indian Express reported.

In the affidavit, the state government also attributed the stampede to a series of “reckless, negligent and uncoordinated actions” by the organisers and cadres of the Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam, Live Law reported.

The stampede had taken place on September 27 at Veluchamy Puram in Karur, when party chief Vijay was addressing supporters from his campaign vehicle.

The first information report filed in the matter alleged that while permission had been granted for 10,000 attendees, more than 25,000 persons gathered at the venue. A day before the event, television channels had said that Vijay would arrive at Karur by noon, but he reached the district by 4.45 pm.

Among those who died were 18 women and nine children.

Source: Scroll
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