CHENNAI: The Madras High Court will on Monday hear the plea of Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) seeking an independent probe into the Karur tragedy that occurred during actor Vijay’s rally on Saturday, which left 40 persons, including children, dead.
Raising doubts over the root cause of the tragedy and emphasising the need for preserving the CCTV footage recorded at the spot, advocates of TVK approached Justice M Dhandapani on Sunday, seeking that a suo motu case be taken up on the incident and an independent probe ordered.
However, the judge, who is to sit in the vacation court in the Madurai Bench, said he would take up the matter if they filed a formal petition. He agreed to hear such a petition in the Madurai Bench on Monday if the filing formalities were completed.
Meanwhile, a victim of the tragedy, A Senthilkannan of Ramanur in Karur, moved the court with a petition seeking to be impleaded in a pending case over relaxing the severe conditions imposed on Vijay’s rally.
He prayed for a direction to the Director General of Police (DGP) not to grant permission for further public events of Vijay until the inquiry into the tragedy is completed and accountability is fixed.
Justice N Senthilkumar, a vacation judge, agreed for an urgent hearing in a special sitting on Sunday afternoon when senior counsel G Sankaran requested. However, the hearing was cancelled as the petition was not formally filed.
The court also declined to hear urgently a petition by BJP leader and councillor of Greater Chennai Corporation Uma Anandan seeking a CBI probe into the Karur tragedy.
Senthilkannan, in his petition, recounted the tragedy stating that the crowd surged forward in an uncontrollable manner and he allegedly witnessed men, women and children collapsing as they got suffocated and trampled upon.
He said it was not a mere accident but “a result of reckless planning, gross mismanagement and complete disregard for the safety of the public.”
The organisers allegedly permitted the crowd to gather without restriction, failed to provide adequate barricading and positioned the campaign vehicle in a manner that provoked a dangerous surge.
He said, “The Karur tragedy is a stark reminder that unregulated exercise of the right to assemble enshrined in Article 19 (1) (b) can have catastrophic consequences resulting in loss of life and serious injuries. The State has a positive obligation to protect citizens from such dangers by enforcing adequate preventive measures and by refusing permission for such rallies where there is a clear risk to life and public order.”
He further stated that permitting rallies by the TVK and its leader Vijay at a time when the tragedy remains under investigation would amount to placing countless other lives at peril. “The public confidence in the State and its machinery would be shaken if no effective steps are taken to prevent recurrence,” he said.
The petitioner added that unless the court issues strict directions to forbear the DGP from granting permission for further political rallies by the TVK and its founder Vijay until accountability is fixed and adequate safety mechanisms are enforced, “another tragedy of equal or greater magnitude may occur.”