TN to challenge Madras HC order quashing jobs for Karur stampede victims’ kin

CHENNAI: The Tamil Nadu government will approach the Supreme Court on Tuesday against the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court’s order quashing government job appointments granted to the families of those who died in the Karur rally stampede, Law Minister R Nirmalkumar said on Monday.

Announcing the State’s decision to challenge the verdict, the minister said the government would file a Special Leave Petition before the apex court on Tuesday morning, arguing that the High Court’s order had been passed without hearing those directly affected by it.

“The beneficiaries who had already received government appointment orders were not impleaded as respondents in the case. The court delivered its verdict without giving them an opportunity to present their case,” Nirmalkumar said.

He said the State would contend before the Supreme Court that the appointments were set aside without hearing the beneficiaries, raising concerns over adherence to the principles of natural justice.

According to the minister, the government considers the omission significant as the High Court’s order directly impacts the employment and livelihood of the appointees.

The Madurai Bench had on Monday struck down the government’s decision to provide public employment to the next of kin of those killed in the Karur crowd crush, paving the way for the State to mount a legal challenge.

The government has now decided to seek urgent relief from the Supreme Court, with the appeal scheduled to be filed on Tuesday morning.

The case is expected to focus on whether the beneficiaries should have been made parties to the proceedings before the High Court invalidated their appointments. The State will seek restoration of the appointment orders while defending its decision to provide temporary government employment as a measure of relief to the bereaved families.