TVK takes the Karur stampede to the Supreme Court: plea challenges High Court SIT, seeks judge-led independent probe

Chennai — The battle over who investigates the Karur stampede has reached the Supreme Court. Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam, the ruling party in Tamil Nadu, has moved the apex court challenging the Madras High Court's October 3 order that constituted a Special Investigation Team headed by Inspector General of Police Asra Garg to probe the September 27 stampede in which 41 people were crushed to death, news agency PTI reported. The petition, filed through the party's secretary Aadhav Arjuna and argued by advocates Dixita Gohil, Pranjal Agarawal and Yash S Vijay, was mentioned before a bench of Chief Justice of India B.R. Gavai and Justice K. Vinod Chandran, which agreed to hear the matter on Friday, October 10. TVK is seeking an independent investigation led by a former Supreme Court judge. The party's core argument is that the High Court, while itself expressing serious reservations about the impartiality of the state police, still handed the probe to an SIT composed solely of Tamil Nadu police officers. "The petitioner-party as well as its leaders are prejudiced by the order which appoints an SIT composed solely of officers of the State Police, especially in the face of the observations of the Hon'ble High Court expressing its dissatisfaction with the independence of State Police and its conduct, and prejudicial factual findings against the petitioner," the plea states. The petition also floats a sensational claim: the possibility of a "pre-planned conspiracy" by miscreants behind the stampede, and argues that only an "independent probe where contesting points of fact can be placed" can establish the truth. Equally significant is what the plea objects to: the Madras High Court's scathing remarks. Justice N. Senthilkumar, while ordering the SIT, took exception to the party and its leadership, observing that TVK functionaries had "fled the scene" and "abandoned" the victims. He called the episode a "huge man-made disaster" and criticised the party's "poor quality leadership". The High Court had also dismissed a plea seeking a CBI probe into the tragedy. The plea will be heard alongside a separate appeal by BJP leader Uma Anandan challenging the Madurai Bench's refusal to transfer the case to the Central Bureau of Investigation. LawBeat reported the case title as Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam vs. P.H. Dinesh. The undisputed facts remain grim. On September 27, a TVK campaign rally at Veluswamypuram in Karur drew an estimated 27,000 people against a permitted crowd of about 10,000. Police reports attributed the chaos to a seven-hour delay in Vijay's arrival at the venue. Narrow approach roads, hoardings and barricades blocking escape routes, and hours of waiting in the heat turned the venue into a death trap. An FIR has been filed against TVK functionaries on charges including culpable homicide not amounting to murder. With byelections due on October 6 and campaigning ending on October 4, the Karur probe has become the defining test of the young TVK government's promise of accountable governance. The Supreme Court's decision on who investigates will shape not just the inquiry, but the politics of everything that follows.