The Supreme Court of India on Friday raised serious questions about how the Madras High Court handled the Karur stampede case, saying “something wrong is happening” in the High Court’s process.A bench of Justices J.K. Maheshwari and Vijay Bishnoi examined a confidential report from the Registrar General of the Madras High Court and issued a notice, asking for a detailed reply. The court also made the Registrar a party to the case to understand the procedures followed in listing and hearing the matter.
The remarks came during a hearing on a petition by Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) challenging an order of the High Court that called for a Special Investigation Team (SIT) probe into the tragedy at a TVK rally in Karur, which killed 41 people and injured more than 60. The Supreme Court flagged irregularities including conflicting orders from different benches of the Madras High Court and questioned why an SIT was directed in a petition that only sought rally safety guidelines.
The top court also refused to change its earlier order requiring a CBI investigation supervised by a panel led by former Supreme Court judge Justice Ajay Rastogi, and declined to relax the rule that members of the supervisory committee should be from outside Tamil Nadu.
The Supreme Court’s strong remarks reflect concerns about fairness and impartiality in how the High Court has been handling this high-profile case.