MADURAI: The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court on Tuesday granted further time to the state to file its response on a batch of petitions which sought a direction to forbear the government from providing employment to the family members of the Karur stampede victims.
A bench of Justices C V Karthikeyan and R Sakthivel directed the government to file its counter affidavit by July 24, and adjourned the matter to July 27, reiterating its earlier opinion that it proposes to decide on the matter before the appointees draw their first salary.
The petitions were filed by an advocate, G Thirumurugan of NTK. and the state deputy general of Makkal Jananayaga Katchi, M Seeni Ahamed. They alleged that in the absence of any uniform policy or government order, granting jobs to the victims of the stampede would lead to discrimination and inequality.
Another PIL has been filed by a government job aspirant seeking a similar relief, on the ground that any proposal to employ one member from each of the 41 affected families outside the established recruitment process would adversely affect lakhs of deserving unemployed candidates who have been preparing for competitive examinations over several years.
The three petitions were tagged together and posted on July 27.