The Supreme Court on Monday ordered a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into the Karur stampede that occurred during party chief and actor Vijay's rally on September 27, leaving 41 people dead and many others injured.
A bench of Justices J.K. Maheshwari and N.V. Anjaria also ordered a three-member committee, headed by former Supreme Court judge Justice Ajay Rastogi, to monitor the CBI probe and ensure that the investigation into the tragedy is independent and impartial.
The committee, headed by Justice Rastogi, would include two senior IPS officers from the Tamil Nadu cadre who are not natives of the state, to be chosen by him, the top court noted in its order.
The committee's mandate includes monitoring the CBI investigation, issuing directions on areas where further investigation is needed, reviewing the evidence collected by the CBI, supervising the investigation to ensure it reaches its logical conclusion, and undertaking any ancillary or incidental inquiry necessary to ensure a fair investigation.
The committee will also be free to devise its own procedure under the directions of Justice Rastogi, the top court noted.
The top court observed that the Karur incident, which claimed 41 lives and injured over 100, had left a deep impact across the country and raised serious concerns about impartiality due to certain comments made by senior police officials of Tamil Nadu before the media.
Given the political undertones and the need to restore public faith in the justice system, the court found it necessary to direct a CBI probe to ensure an independent and unbiased investigation.
Looking to the fact that the issue involved certainly has a bearing on the fundamental rights of the citizens, and the incident which has shaken the national conscience, deserves fair and impartial investigation.
As such, by way of an interim measure, a direction deserves to be issued to hand over the investigation to the CBI, which would lead to fair administration of justice. There can be no doubt that fair investigation is the right of a citizen.
The top court, in its order, also sought an explanation from the Madras High Court after observing several procedural and jurisdictional irregularities in how two writ petitions that were filed with regard to the incident were handled.
The Court noted that these petitions, which initially only sought directions on granting permissions for political rallies and forming guidelines or SOPs, were expanded by a Single Judge of the Madras High Court's Principal Bench at Chennai to include issues such as the creation of a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe the Karur stampede.
The Court flagged that this expansion happened without any pleadings from the necessary parties, even though similar matters were already being heard by the Division Bench of the High Court in Madurai, within whose jurisdiction the Karur incident occurred.
The top court pointed out that this created unnecessary multiplicity of proceedings and confusion between the two benches.
The Court therefore directed the Madras High Court to explain how a petition related to political rally permissions and SOPs could fall under a criminal writ jurisdiction.
It also asked why the case was not treated as a public interest litigation (PIL) and whether such matters should be heard by a Single Judge or a Division Bench.
The Court thus directed the Registrar (Judicial) of the High Court to furnish this explanation and to bring the said order to the attention of the Chief Justice of the Madras High Court.
The top court's decision came on pleas filed by several parties, including Vijay's TVK, the families of two deceased victims and other parties, with respect to the investigation into the Karur stampede that occurred on September 27, during party chief and actor Vijay's rally.
In the earlier hearing on Friday, the top court had heard detailed submissions made by all parties before it and had directed the Tamil Nadu government to file a counter affidavit in response to pleas filed on behalf of the victims before reserving its decision.
On Monday, the top court issued the aforesaid directions for an independent and fair probe into the tragedy. The top court clarified that all its directions in the matter have been issued on an interim basis and the matter is subject to further orders of the Court, once the Tamil Nadu government files its response to the pleas filed by all parties.
TVK was represented in the Supreme Court by Gohil Agarwal Law Chambers.
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