Karur stampede: SC says something wrong with Madras HC after report
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New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday expressed serious reservations over the manner in which the Madras High Court handled the Karur stampede case, remarking that there appeared to be “something amiss” with the high court, according to a report by LiveLaw.
The observation was made after the apex court examined a report submitted by the registrar general of the Madras High Court. A Bench comprising Justices J.K. Maheshwari and Vijay Bishnoi directed that the report be shared with the lawyers representing the parties and asked them to file their responses.
The case relates to a stampede that took place in Karur district of Tamil Nadu on September 27 during a rally organised by actor Vijay’s political party, Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK), in which 41 people lost their lives, the Wire reported.
While hearing petitions seeking an independent probe into the incident, the Supreme Court had earlier raised concerns over the way the Madras High Court intervened in the matter. It questioned how the principal Bench in Chennai could order the constitution of a special investigation team consisting solely of State police officers when Karur falls under the jurisdiction of the Madurai Bench.
The apex court had also flagged that the writ petition before the high court had only sought the framing of standard operating procedures for political rallies, yet directions for setting up an SIT were issued. Subsequently, the Supreme Court transferred the investigation to the Central Bureau of Investigation and sought an explanation from the registrar general on how the Chennai Bench dealt with the case.
After reviewing the registrar general’s explanation on Friday, the Supreme Court Bench made critical comments: “Something wrong [is] going [on] in the high court. This is not the right thing that is happening in HC… Registrar General has sent a report.”
Senior advocate P. Wilson, appearing for the state of Tamil Nadu, submitted, “In our high court, whatever is incidental to the issue coming before the court, they pass an order.”
Justice Maheshwari responded, “If some practice is wrong…”
Additionally, the bench denied an oral request to amend a portion of its October 13 order, which had mandated that a three-person committee led by former Supreme Court judge Justice Ajay Rastogi oversee the CBI investigation. The committee was asked to select two senior IPS officers from the Tamil Nadu cadre who are not "natives" of the state.