NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Monday directed for CBI probe into the September 27, 2025 Karur stampede, which claimed lives of 41 people and left scores others injured, saying impartial investigation is a right of the citizen.
A bench of J K Maheshwari and N V Anjaria appointed former SC judge Justice Ajay Rastogi as head of a committee, comprising two IPS officers from Tamil Nadu but not native of the state, to monitor the probe.
The court set aside the Madras High Court's order setting up the SIT led by senior IPS officer Asra Garg, to probe the stampede.
The apex court also criticised the High Court and also sought a report from the registrar general as to how a writ petition, seeking Standard Operating Procedure for rallies, was registered as a criminal writ petition.
The court said the High Court's principal bench could not have entertained the matter which fell within the jurisdiction of the Madurai bench without any specific authorisation by the Chief Justice, which was absent in the case.
Tamil actor Vijay's political party, Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK), and others have assailed the High Court's order.
Other petitions were filed by Paneerselvam Pitchaimuthu, S Prabhakaran, Selvaraj P and G S Mani, which also sought CBI probe into the matter.
The incident during the rally of actor turned politician Vijay, left 41 people dead and left over 100 others injured on September 27, 2025.
On October 10 the court reserved its order.
The court had then questioned the High Court's two seemingly conflicting orders in connection with the matter, one declining plea for CBI probe, which was passed by the Madurai bench, and another directing a probe by a special investigation team (SIT), passed by the principal bench.
The court also wondered how observations and directions against petitioner TVK were made on a writ petition seeking formulation of Standard Operating Procedure(SOP) on road shows and political rallies.
“We are unable to understand how this order was passed,” the bench had said.
The court also asked why a plea before the high court for a SOP was entertained by the principal bench, when another petition on stampede was already rejected by the high court's Madurai bench.
The court noted the plea before the principal bench was only for formulation of SOP but the high court went beyond that prayer and ordered a probe by SIT.
The plea contended that despite making an observation, which questioned the independence of the police probe into the matter, the high court directed the constitution of an SIT composed solely of three senior officers from the Tamil Nadu Police.
TVK also contended that the party and its leaders were prejudiced by the order which appointed an SIT composed solely of officers of the state police, despite the high court expressing its discontent with the independence of state police and its conduct.
The plea claimed that a pre-planned conspiracy by certain miscreants to create trouble at the rally site cannot be ruled out as a cause of the stampede. It pressed for an independent probe.
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