TN in top court on Vijay: TVK reckless, delay intentional
In an affidavit filed before the top court, the state government said there was an intentional delay of approximately seven hours by Vijay at the designated Karur site to invite more crowd at the venue.
Visuals from the spot (Photo: PTI)
NEW DELHI: The Karur stampede in which 41 people were killed is attributable to a series of “reckless and uncoordinated actions” by the organisers and workers of the TVK, the Tamil Nadu government told the Supreme Court. The affidavit that the government filed added that party founder Vijay intentionally delayed his arrival at the venue by around seven hours to ensure a larger crowd.
Detailing his itinerary on September 27, the affidavit said Vijay departed Chennai by air at 8.40 am and reached Tiruchy around 9.25 am. He went to Namakkal to attend a scheduled programme and then started for Karur. This resulted in a delay of approximately seven hours for him to reach the designated venue.
“It shows his intentional delay to invite more crowd at the venue,” the State government said.
Defending the arrangements it had made, the government said the district police started deploying bandobust strength from 10 am, ensuring all security, crowd control, and traffic management arrangements were in place well in advance.
“However, in a grossly irresponsible and misleading act, the official X handle of the TVK publicly announced that [Vijay] would arrive at 12 pm, directly contradicting the permission granted and the schedule furnished in the petitioner’s own request,” it said. Party general secretary N Anand, through a press statement on the same day, incited premature public congregation at the venue, it said.
“As a direct consequence of these unauthorised and misleading communications, thousands of supporters began assembling as early as 9.30 am, causing massive crowd accumulation, vehicular congestion, and public restlessness several hours before the event’s scheduled commencement.
“The attendees, many of whom had travelled long distances, were forced to wait in the scorching heat without basic amenities, leading to dehydration, fatigue among the crowd,” it said.
However, notwithstanding the delay, the police managed the situation effectively “despite the reckless and uncoordinated conduct of the organisers,” the affidavit said.
The government urged the court to lift its October 13 order directing a CBI probe into the stampede and permit an investigation by the SIT constituted by the Madras High Court. The local police and the SIT were fully competent to conduct a “fair, thorough, and impartial investigation”, and no exceptional circumstances exist to direct central agency intervention, it added.
