New Delhi, 13 Oct

The Supreme Court on Monday ordered a CBI probe into the Karur stampede in which 41 people were killed and appointed former apex court judge Ajay Rastogi as head of a committee to monitor it.

A bench, comprising Justices JK Maheshwari and NV Anjaria, also criticised Justice N Senthilkumar of the Madras High Court for entertaining petitions on the 27 September stampede at actor Vijay’s rally and ordering an SIT probe.

"There was no occasion for the single judge of the main seat to entertain the petitions without orders of the chief justice when petitions seeking probe into the incident were pending before the Madurai bench," the bench said.

Noting that Vijay's Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) and its members were not made party, the top court said observations were made against them without affording them any opportunity of hearing.

"The judgment is completely silent about how single judge arrived at such conclusion, what material was perused by the court. The said order merely refers to the submissions made by the additional advocate general," the bench said.

The top court on 10 October reserved its order on a plea filed by Vijay's political party and others.

The TVK has sought an independent investigation under the supervision of the Supreme Court, contending that a fair and impartial probe would not be possible if conducted solely by officers of the Tamil Nadu Police.

The TVK's plea objected to the high court constituting a special investigation team (SIT) only with officers of the Tamil Nadu police. It alleged the possibility of a pre-planned conspiracy by some miscreants that led to the stampede.

The plea also took exception to the scathing remarks of the high court against the party and the actor-politician that they abandoned the place after the incident and did not express any remorse.

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