CHENNAI: The DMK moved the Supreme Court on Friday seeking a directive to restrain TVK leaders, including Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay, from making public statements or levelling "false accusations" in connection with a stampede which claimed 41 lives during a public meeting of the TVK at Velusamypuram in Karur on September 27.
The plea filed by DMK organising secretary RS Bharathi, who has sought impleadment in a pending case, submitted that several persons who were initially charge-sheeted in the case are now ministers in the State cabinet and that the CBI has questioned CM C Joseph Vijay and senior TVK leaders as part of the ongoing court-monitored investigation.
Bharathi has filed an interlocutory application in the Special Leave Petition through which the top court transferred the probe to the CBI in October.
The application states that the State's preliminary investigation attributed the tragedy to alleged underestimation of the crowd, mobilisation beyond the permitted strength, inadequate crowd-management, and the movement of the campaign vehicle into an overcrowded venue.
Bharathi also claimed that Vijay was likely to travel to Karur on July 10 to meet the families of the stampede victims and hand over government benefits, including appointment orders on compassionate grounds.
"When the investigation is still pending, any direct interaction with such material witnesses by persons connected with the subject matter of the investigation or by the political executive presently in office, particularly while distributing benefits arising out of the very incident under investigation, has the potential to give rise to an apprehension," the plea said.
The petition also referred to a public statement allegedly made on Thursday by minister Aadhav Arjuna, that there was "a score to settle" over the Karur incident and alleged that the previous DMK government had "killed" Karur people through the police.
The plea has sought a directive to the CBI to take action against Arjuna for "influencing, tampering with witnesses and impeding the investigation".