Flagging 'impropriety' by the Madras High Court bench that passed an order on the Karur stampede, the Supreme Court on Friday observed that "something wrong" is happening there.
While hearing the Karur stampede case, the apex court received a report sent by the Registrar General of the Madras HC. Going through the report, the apex court bench, headed by Justice J K Maheshwari and including Justice Vijay Bishnoi, sought a reply from the Madras HC on the rules being followed in the listing and hearing of cases.
In a surprise development, the court also made the Registrar General of the Madras HC a party in the case. "Something wrong is happening in the High Court," Justice Maheshwari observed.
The apex court was hearing the TVK's petition challenging the Madras HC's order for a probe by a Special Investigation Team.
The apex court on Friday refused to modify its earlier direction that members of the Supervisory Committee constituted to monitor the CBI investigation not be natives of Tamil Nadu.
"We want everything to be fair," Justice Maheshwari said, after Senior Advocate Siddharth Luthra argued for a modification to the relevant paragraph of the court's judgment ordering a CBI probe.
The top court refused to make any changes in its earlier directions and expressed inclination to hear the matter later.
The Karur stampede claimed 41 lives and injured over 60 during a TVK rally on September 27.
The TN government, in its counter affidavit filed in the top court, had insisted on vacating the earlier October 13 order which had suspended the continuation of the Justice (retired) Aruna Jagadeesan Commission of inquiry into the case.
It had also sought the deletion of the words "non-native" in paragraph 33 of the October 13 interim order and reconstitute or suitably modify the composition of the three-member Supervisory Committee overseeing the CBI investigation.
The TN government also had sought dismissal of the Special Leave Petition (SLP) on the ground that it was "not maintainable and misconceived."
In its October 13 order, the Supreme Court had ordered a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into the Karur stampede.
The SC had passed the order for a CBI probe on October 13 on hearing a batch of pleas, including the one filed by TVK general secretary (Election Strategy) Aadhav Arjuna, seeking to quash the Madras High Court order constituting a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe the incident.
Three other petitions also sought a CBI inquiry. They were filed by P Selvaraj of Emur Puthur, who lost his wife S Chandra, P Panneerselvam of Alamarathupatti, who lost his nine-year-old son Prathik, and G S Mani, Vice-president of the Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) state legal cell.
The TN government in its counter affidavit sought to recall the October 13 order for a CBI probe and sought a direction for allowing the state SIT to continue the probe. "The investigation by the state police was proceeding properly. No malafides or bias had been alleged or substantiated," it said.
In its October 13 order, the SC bench of Justices J.K. Maheshwari and N.V. Anjaria also had constituted a three-member committee, headed by former Supreme Court judge Justice Ajay Rastogi, to monitor the investigation. The committee will include two Indian Police Service officers of the Tamil Nadu cadre who are not natives of TN.
"The issue involved certainly has a bearing on the fundamental rights of the citizens and the incident, which has shaken the national conscience, deserves fair and impartial investigation. As such, by way of interim measure, direction deserves to be issued to hand over the investigation to the CBI which would lead to fair administration of justice. There cannot be any doubt that fair investigation is the right of a citizen," the bench of the top court had said.
It had said that the CBI director should forthwith appoint a senior officer to take over the investigation and appoint some other officers to assist him. The Superintendent of Police and SHO (Station House Officer) of the Karur Town Police Station, as well as the SIT set up pursuant to the order of the single judge and the enquiry commission set up by the Chief Minister, should immediately hand over the FIR and other relevant papers, evidence digital or otherwise collected till now for further investigation to officers of the CBI, added the top court.
It had highlighted that the comments made before the media by the top officers of the police department may create doubt in the minds of the citizenry on impartiality and fair investigation. "The faith and trust of the general public on the process of investigation must be restored in the criminal justice system, and one way to instill such trust is by ensuring that the investigation in the present case is completely impartial, independent," the apex court had said.