Top News

New Delhi, Jul 6 (PTI) The Supreme Court on Monday agreed to list on July 7 a plea filed by the DMK alleging that ministers in the Tamil Nadu government were "actively influencing" witnesses in the CBI probe into last year's Karur stampede case.

A partial working day bench of Justices Ahsanuddin Amanullah and Sheel Nagu agreed to list the matter on Tuesday after senior advocate Huzefa Ahmadi, appearing for DMK Secretary RS Bharati, sought an urgent hearing.

The plea also seeks to restrain Tamil Nadu Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay, state minister Aadhav Arjuna and other accused people from making public statements on the case and to regulate their interaction with victims' families during the pendency of the CBI probe.

Ahmadi told the court that witnesses were being "actively influenced" by ministers in the state government and expressed apprehension that Vijay's proposed visit to Karur on July 10 to meet victims' families could affect the investigation.

Ahmadi submitted, "This court directed a CBI probe. Now, some accused who are now ministers in the present regime are attempting to actively influence the witnesses. We have filed an application".

He said the petitioner can demonstrate from the record that witnesses were being influenced.

The bench then said, "We will have it tomorrow".

The plea referred to reports that the chief minister is scheduled to visit Karur to distribute government orders, compassionate appointments and other benefits to the families of the deceased and injured victims.

Bharathi, who has sought impleadment in a pending case, submitted that several people initially chargesheeted in the case were now ministers in the Tamil Nadu Cabinet following the 2026 assembly elections.

The petition also referred to a public statement allegedly made last week by TVK MLA Aadhav Arjuna, in which he purportedly said that there was "a score to settle" over the Karur incident and accused the previous DMK government of having "killed" the people of Karur through the police.

The plea sought directions to the CBI to register a complaint and take action against Arjuna's statements, alleging they amounted to "influencing and tampering with witnesses and impeding the investigation".

The plea contended that direct interaction with material witnesses by people connected with the subject matter of the investigation, or by the political executive while distributing benefits arising out of the very incident under investigation, could create an apprehension about the fairness and independence of the investigative process.

On October 13 last year, the top court ordered a CBI probe into the stampede in which 41 people were killed, saying the incident had shaken the national conscience and deserved a fair and impartial investigation.

Acting on a plea filed by Vijay's Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) for an independent probe, the top court had set up a three-member supervisory committee headed by former apex court judge Ajay Rastogi to monitor the CBI investigation.

The apex court had suspended the Tamil Nadu government's directions for the appointment of a Special Investigation Team and a one-man commission enquiry, and directed the state to extend full cooperation to the CBI.

Earlier, police said the rally witnessed a turnout of about 27,000 people -- nearly three times the expected 10,000 -- and blamed a seven-hour delay in Vijay reaching the venue for the tragedy. 

(Disclaimer: This report has been published as part of the auto-generated syndicate wire feed. Apart from the headline, no editing has been done in the copy by ABP Live.)