The Madras High Court has directed the State to file a counter to the new petitions demanding a CBI investigation into the Kallakurichi hooch tragedy. The court has adjourned the hearing to July 18.
The first division bench, comprising acting Chief Justice R Mahadevan and Justice Mohammed Shaffiq, has tagged the fresh petitions filed by AIADMK former MLA A Shirdharan, DMDK former MLA B Parthasarathy, and advocate Mohandass with the previously filed petitions by AIADMK advocate IS Inbadurai and PMK advocate K Balu. All these petitions seek to transfer the investigation from the State agency to the CBI for a speedy and fair probe.
Advocate General (AG) PS Raman informed the court that the State had already submitted a status report in response to the two earlier petitions. He requested additional time to file a counter to the fresh petitions, which the court granted.
Following this, the bench scheduled the next hearing for July 18 for further submissions.
The call for a CBI probe comes in the wake of the Kallakurichi hooch tragedy, which resulted in the deaths of over 60 people. Advocate Inbadurai initially moved a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) before the High Court, seeking to transfer the investigation from the Crime Branch-Criminal Investigation Department (CB-CID) to the CBI to ensure a thorough and impartial investigation.
Similarly, advocate K Balu filed another PIL requesting the transfer of the investigation to the CBI and the formation of a special investigation team to apprehend all the accused involved in the tragedy.
The court’s directive to the State to respond to the fresh petitions underscores the gravity of the situation and the demand for a comprehensive investigation to bring justice to the victims of the Kallakurichi hooch tragedy.