The Supreme Court will give its verdict on October 13 on the petition filed by Vijay’s Tamilaga Vetri Kazhagam (TVK) seeking a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) investigation into the stampede at actor Vijay’s political rally in Karur, Tamil Nadu. The September 29 incident left 41 people dead and raised concerns about crowd management and investigation transparency. During the hearing, the Supreme Court said it would pass orders on the petition seeking a CBI probe into the stampede. The court also asked the Tamil Nadu government to file a reply on this. The petition challenges the Madras High Court order refusing to transfer the investigating agency and ordering a Special Investigation Team (SIT) investigation, which TVK alleged could be biased.
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A bench of Justices JK Maheshwari and NV Anjaria raised questions as to why a single bench of the Chennai bench of the Madras High Court took cognizance of the case and passed the order. Although Karur, where the stampede took place, is under its jurisdiction, the case was being heard by the Madurai bench of the high court. Advocate Gopal Subramaniam, appearing for TVK, claimed that the High Court gave its verdict without hearing the views of the parties. The purpose of the petition filed in the High Court was very limited.
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Subramaniam said the government should be instructed to make a protocol for the road show. Several allegations have been made in the High Court order. The Madurai bench should have heard the matter as it had already considered the petitions filed on this issue. The lawyers appeared without filing any affidavit. This is a stampede. This is a human tragedy. The allegation that actor Vijay was not made a party is completely false.