All eyes on SC verdict on probe pleas as SIT grills TVK leader for 4 hrs

CHENNAI: The Supreme Court is set to pronounce its order on Monday on a batch of pleas seeking either a CBI probe or the top court-monitored investigation into the Karur stampede, which claimed 41 lives.

A bench of Justices JK Maheshwari and NV Anjaria will deliver the verdict. On Friday, while reserving its order, the court questioned the Madras High Court’s decision to constitute a Special Investigation Team (SIT), asking how a single bench in Chennai proceeded when the division bench in Madurai was already considering the matter. “In my experience of over 15 years as a judge, a single bench usually holds back if the division bench has taken cognisance,” Justice Maheshwari observed.

Meanwhile, the SIT on Saturday grilled the Salem central district TVK secretary Parthiban in connection with the stampede at the party president and actor Vijay’s campaign in Karur, which left 41 people dead. Parthiban was one of the organisers of the Karur event.

The SIT, headed by IGP Asra Garg, which began its probe on October 5, has been summoning several persons from the party, eyewitnesses, family members of the deceased as well as the injured and local cable TV crew.

According to sources, Parthiban was questioned about the poor arrangement of the event. He was also asked whether the organisers were aware of the surge of fans, and why they sought police permission for a far smaller gathering than the actual turnout. He was also asked what led the fans from Namakkal to follow Vijay all the way to Karur.

The four-hour grilling ended at 3 pm, and he was asked to make himself available whenever summoned for further questioning.

Meanwhile, TVK Karur district secretary VP Mathiyazhagan, who was in SIT custody, was sent to judicial custody till October 14.