Madras High Court Forms SIT To Probe Karur Stampede, Slams Vijay's TVK Party For Abandoning Site & Showing No Remorse

The Madras High Court on Friday constituted a Special Investigation Team (SIT) headed by Inspector General (IG) of Police Asra Garg to investigate the Karur Stampede, which occurred on September 27, claiming the lives of 41 people.

Justice N Senthilkumar also condemned the 'attitude' of Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) party, in 'abandoning' the place after the incident. The court said that the party did not express remorse. The court added that the party should have taken immediate steps to rescue the individuals who were caught in the stampede, including women and children. The court added that the failure in communication on the party's side reflected its disregard for human life and public accountability.

"This Court strongly condemns the conduct of Mr.Vijay, the organisers of the event and the members of the political party for fleeing from the scene of occurrence immediately after mishaps. While this Court is aware that the political party has not been arrayed as a respondent, it is important to point out that it is incumbent upon such a party to have taken immediate steps to rescue and assist individuals caught in the stampede like situation arising from the massive crowd in which many children, women, and several young person tragically lost their lives," the court said.

"Regrettably, there has been no statement, no expression of responsibility from the political party viz., Tamilaga Vetri Kazhagam regarding the occurrence, either in their official twitter account or in other social media regretting the stampede that has taken place. There is no communication in any form or in any manner regretting the incident. This omission reflects the political party's disregard for human life and public accountability," the court added. 

The court further said that it cannot close its eyes and shirk responsibilities. "The entire world has witnessed the events," it added. Thus, even though no specific prayer had been made by the petitioner to constitute an SIT, the court considered it necessary in the extraordinary circumstances. Even though the State pointed out that the investigation was underway and the FIR had been registered, the court was not satisfied with the submissions and decided to appoint the SIT.

"Though the learned Additional Advocate General and the learned State Public Prosecutor submitted that an FIR has already been registered and that an investigation is underway, this Court is not satisfied with the progress or independence of the said investigation. Accordingly, the said submission is declined, and the Special Investigation Team shall stand constituted with effect from today," the court said.

The court passed the order in a plea moved by a man who had sent a representation to the state authorities for framing guidelines for road shows and conducting proper investigation into the incident. 

The representation, the plea states, relates to the unfortunate incident which took place on September 27 in Karur, during a public meeting organized by TVK and its party president actor Vijay 

It further sought direction to the respondent authorities to consider the representation sent by the petitioner and consequently frame guidelines/SOP for conduct of road show immediately.

The plea claims that the incident was not a simple accident but happened due to "careless planning and complete negligence by organizers". The plea submits that another reason for the tragedy is the absence of an SOP and in the absence of guidelines there is every possibility of recurrence of such incidents in future. 

The petitioner had sent a representation seeking–proper safety rules (SOPs) for all political rallies and public meetings, take action against those responsible for Karur tragedy and stop giving permissions for such gathering until proper safety steps are made compulsory. However the plea claims, the state has not responded to the representation.

Case title: PH Dinesh v/s Home Secretary State of Tamil Nadu

Citation: 2025 LiveLaw (Mad) 334

Case No: WP Crl 1000 of 2025