MADURAI: The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court on Tuesday directed the transfer of a plea seeking stringent guidelines to regulate political rallies and mass gatherings to ensure public safety to its principal bench in Chennai.

Petitioner SMA Pon Gandhimathinathan of Thoothukudi filed the plea following the Karur stampede, seeking stringent Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for political meetings. He urged the HC to order the government to frame SOPs for crowd control and restrict rallies in congested areas, to avoid recurrence of tragedies, pointing to the Karur stampede.

Chief Justice Manindra Mohan Srivastava, who was on a visit to the Madurai bench of the Madras High Court, heard the case and ordered the petition to be transferred to the principal bench in Chennai.