Vijay rally stampede: Madras HC to hear TVK’s plea for independent probe today

Madras HC

The Madurai bench of the Madras High Court (HC) on Monday will hear actor -politician Vijay's plea seeking an independent inquiry into the Karur tragedy that occurred during his rally on Saturday, leaving 40 persons, including children, dead.

The Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) chief approached the court on Sunday seeking Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) or Special Investigation Team (SIT) to investigate the stampede at his Karur rally.

TVK advocate S. Arivazhagan has urged the court to take suo motu cognisance of the Karur stampede incident and to order an impartial investigation. The plea emphasized that only an independent agency could properly investigate the lapses that led to the large-scale loss of life at the party’s rally.

The First Information Report (FIR), registered at the Karur Town Police Station, names TVK’s Karur (North) district secretary Madhiazhagan, general secretary Bussy Anand, and joint general secretary CTR Nirmal Kumar. They have been booked under Sections 105 (culpable homicide), 110 (attempt to commit culpable homicide), and 125 (endangering life of others) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).

“Vijay also arrived three hours late to the venue in Karur after his rally in nearby Namakkal district,” Additional director general of police (law and order) Davidson Devasirvatham was quoted by HT as saying.

Petition filed to bar Vijay from public events

Meanwhile, a petition has been moved against the TVK chief, seeking to restrain him from holding any public gatherings until the ongoing probe is completed. The plea was filed by Senthilkannan, one of the victims injured in the stampede at Vijay’s rally in Karur.

In his plea, Senthilkannan urged the court to direct the Director General of Police (DGP) not to grant permission for any further public meetings, rallies, or political events organised by TVK or its leader Vijay until the investigation concludes. He also sought to implead himself as a party to TVK’s earlier petition, which had asked the court to direct the DGP to issue instructions to subordinate police officials across the State to grant permission for its political campaigns led by Vijay in Tamil Nadu between September 20 and December 20, 2025, as per its representation dated September 9, 2025.

Senthilkannan argued that the tragedy was not an unavoidable accident but the outcome of reckless planning, gross mismanagement, and blatant disregard for public safety. According to him, the organisers allowed an uncontrolled crowd buildup, failed to provide adequate barricading, and placed the campaign vehicle in a way that triggered a dangerous crowd surge.