Supreme Court to Hear DMK Plea Concerning Karur Stampede Investigation
The Supreme Court on Monday agreed to list for hearing an application moved by the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) that seeks to restrain Tamil Nadu Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay, Minister Aadhav Arjuna and other accused persons from making public statements relating to the Karur stampede and from interacting with the families of the victims while the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe is underway. The matter was mentioned before a partial bench comprising Justice Ahsanuddin Amanullah and Justice Sheel Nagu by Senior Advocate Huzefa Ahmadi, who appeared for DMK Secretary RS Bharati.
Ahmadi submitted that the Chief Minister had proposed to meet the families of the deceased and injured victims on 10 July 2026 to distribute government orders, compassionate appointments and other benefits. He expressed the apprehension that such a meeting could influence witnesses who are also material to the ongoing CBI investigation. He pointed out that after April 2026 several of the accused had assumed ministerial positions in the current regime and that there was an active attempt to influence witnesses. He noted that the application had been filed on Friday and that the urgency stemmed from the pending CBI enquiry which had been directed by the Court and overseen by a Monitoring Committee appointed earlier.
Justice Ahsanuddin Amanullah initially questioned what order could be passed in the circumstances. After hearing the submissions, the bench decided to list the matter for hearing on the following day. The Court did not pass any substantive order at that stage; it merely agreed to place the application on the cause list for tomorrow.
The DMK’s application highlights that the victims’ families are themselves material witnesses in the CBI probe. It contends that direct interaction between those families and persons connected with the subject matter of the investigation, or with members of the political executive, creates a reasonable apprehension regarding the fairness of the probe. The application further notes that the Chief Minister had previously distributed Rs 20 lakh to each family of the deceased and Rs 2 lakh to each injured victim in October 2025, a period when criminal proceedings were already pending. It argues that the proposed distribution of government benefits after assuming office, taken together with the public statements made by an accused Minister, warrants judicial safeguards to preserve the integrity of the investigation.