Following the deadly Karur stampede, political parties are now prohibited from conducting public meetings or events on state and national highways in Tamil Nadu until SOPs are ready, according to an interim injunction order issued by the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court.
The bench was adjudicating upon four Public Interest Litigations (PILs) seeking directions to make SOPs for mass gatherings to evade incidents similar to the recent Karur stampede.
Meetings on the state and national highways are not permitted, except at the earmarked places, until the SOPs are finalised, the government assured.
The court allowed petitioners to be impleaded in the matter, pending before the Principal Seat at Madras, regarding SOPs on a similar issue.
Earlier today, Madras High Court Justice N Senthilvkumar dismissed the anticipatory bail filed by Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam district secretary N Sathish Kumar seeking bail in the Karur stampede case.
The judge raised questions on why the party failed to control the mob, highlighting the cadre’s unruly behaviour, including the rampage and damage caused to public properties during the party chief Vijay’s roadshow.
The stampede occurred on September 27 during a public rally led by Tamizhaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) chief and actor Vijay. More than 40 people were killed and 83 others were injured after a stampede broke out during the rally of TVK chief Vijay in Karur on Sunday.
The event attracted a massive crowd, and preliminary observations suggested that loopholes in crowd management contributed to the chaos.
The issue turned political with the BJP and DMK locking horns over the unfortunate incident. CM Stalin criticised the BJP and Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman for rushing to Karur after the stampede, stating that the Centre had ignored Tamil Nadu during previous disasters.
Earlier, BJP MP Anurag Thakur requested Stalin to take full charge of the situation and direct the authorities concerned to furnish a comprehensive report at the earliest.
Thakur was a member of the NDA-BJP fact-finding delegation that visited Karur.