"Incident Shook The Nation": Supreme Court Orders CBI Probe In Karur Stampede

The Supreme Court on Monday ordered an investigation by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) into the stampede that took place during actor-turned-politician and TVK chief Vijay's rally in Tamil Nadu's Karur last month. A bench of Justices JK Maheshwari and NV Anjaria also appointed a three-member committee headed by a retired judge of the Supreme Court, Ajay Rastogi, to monitor the probe.

The committee will include two IPS officers, who may be from the Tamil Nadu cadre but not natives of the state.

The top court also questioned why a single judge of the Madras High Court's Chennai bench took cognisance of the case and passed an order, calling the stampede an incident that "shook the conscience of the nation".  The Madurai bench of the High Court had rejected the plea seeking a CBI probe and yet the Chennai bench directed a SIT probe without even hearing the TVK in a plea which only sought SOP and guidelines to conduct roadshows.

The Supreme Court observed "there was no occasion for the single judge at the Madras HC bench of Chennai to entertain a petition without the permission of the Chief Justice."

"Taking suo moto cognisance, ignoring the decision of the Madurai bench, how far is the order of the single judge order is correct. When the division bench of the Madurai bench was cognisant of the same.... Such recourse prima facie indicates a lack of sensitivity and propriety to deal with such matters, creating multiplicity of proceedings for reasons best known by the judge," The top court observed.

41 people died and at least 60 were injured in the stampede during Vijay's rally on September 27. According to officials, the incident took place as a crowd of nearly 30,000 people gathered at a venue with a capacity of about 10,000 for Vijay's rally. The security guidelines were violated, and proper arrangements for food and drinking water were missing - which contributed to the tragedy, they added.

Vijay, who was supposed to arrive at the venue at 12 pm, turned up around 7 pm. The crowd had swelled till he arrived, and he reportedly brought another crowd surge with his campaign bus. During this time, many people climbed trees, roofs, and power lines, due to which authorities had to cut electrical lines to avoid cases of electrocution. When Vijay arrived, people started pushing each other and threw slippers at the campaign bus to get his attention, during which many people fainted. The police then resorted to a lathi charge to disperse the crowd, officials said.

A day after the incident, Vijay announced a compensation of Rs 20 lakh for each victim's family and Rs 2 lakh for the injured. His statewide tour was also suspended. The TVK chief spoke to the families of the people who died in the stampede over a video call on October 7. He consoled the families during the interaction and promised them he would visit Karur soon.

TVK Karur West District Secretary Mathiyazhagan was arrested, with the police holding him responsible for lapses that led to the tragedy. Cases have also been filed against TVK's General Secretary Bussy Anand and Joint General Secretary Nirmal Sekar - who are on the run.