Transferring the case to the CBI, the apex court kept under suspension a one-man judicial inquiry commission constituted by the DMK government, within hours of the tragedy struck, and the Special Investigation Team (SIT) ordered by a single Judge of Madras High Court on October 3.
File Photo: IANS
Opposition parties, from the Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) to the AIADMK and the BJP, have welcomed the Supreme Court ordering a probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), monitored by a panel headed by a retired apex court judge, into the ghastly September 27 stampede at the rally of actor and TVK president Vijay.
Transferring the case to the CBI, the apex court kept under suspension a one-man judicial inquiry commission constituted by the DMK government, within hours of the tragedy struck, and the Special Investigation Team (SIT) ordered by a single Judge of Madras High Court on October 3.
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The Opposition chorus is that the CBI probe will bring out the truth. In a terse post on X, the TVK headquarters said “Justice will prevail”. Party general secretary Aadhav Arjuna wrote, “Satyameva Jayate” in Tamil on his X handle, adding that the party will continue to strive to establish justice and that the party would stand by the victim’s families.
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Welcoming the court order, the AIADMK said in a statement, “This landmark judgment upholds the fundamental principle that a “fair and impartial trial is the right of the people”. The AIADMK believes that only through such independent and transparent investigations can justice be ensured for the victims and accountability fixed on those responsible”. The principal Opposition party also condemned what it called the intimidation of a petitioner, Prabhakaran Selvakumar, bereaved in the stampede, by the ruling DMK to withdraw the petition before the apex court.
“The doubts lingering in the minds of the people over the DMK with regard to the Karur tragedy will soon get an answer. Those responsible for the deaths of innocent lives for political ends will get punishment. The false narratives which placed the other side as the villain will get exposed,” said BJP state president Nainar Nagendran in an ‘X’ post.
Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK) president Anbumani Ramadoss expressed confidence that the court-monitored CBI probe will reveal the truth about the ghastly tragedy. In a statement posted on his X handle, he said, “All those responsible for the killed stampede should be brought to book and that alone can serve justice to the families of the victims.”
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