Supreme Court refuses to block CM Vijay’s meeting with families of Karur stampede victims

3 min readNew DelhiJul 7, 2026 05:46 PM IST

The Supreme Court refused to entertain a plea filed by a DMK leader seeking to restrain Tamil Nadu Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay from making public comments on the Karur stampede (File photo).

The Supreme Court Tuesday refused to entertain an application filed by a Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) leader seeking to restrain Tamil Nadu Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay and other members of the ruling Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) from making public comments regarding the September 27, 2025, Karur stampedeor interacting with families of the victims.

A two-judge bench of Justice K V Viswanathan and Justice Alok Aradhe pulled up the petitioner, stating that the Supreme Court cannot be used as a platform to settle political scores.

“You want the chief minister’s visit to be regulated by the Supreme Court and fix his itinerary?” Justice Viswanathan asked, pointing out that the initial FIR in the case does not name Vijay as an accused.

Following the bench’s strong disinclination to entertain the matter, Senior Advocate Ranjit Kumar, appearing for the petitioner, DMK Rajya Sabha MP and organising secretary R S Bharathi, chose to withdraw the application.

Plea highlights minister’s speech

Bharathi’s application was filed just ahead of Chief Minister Vijay’s scheduled July 10 visit to Karur, where he plans to meet the victims’ families to distribute ex gratia compensation and compassionate government appointment orders.

The stampede, which claimed 41 lives during a TVK rally last year, has been under investigation by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) following a Supreme Court order in October 2025.

The DMK’s application sought to block Vijay from interacting with the families, claiming they are material witnesses in the active CBI probe. The application filed in a pending petition, in which the Supreme Court had ordered a CBI investigation into the stampede, urged the court to make the petitioner a party to the proceedings.

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The plea highlighted a July 2 public speech by minister Aadhav Arjuna, who reportedly blamed the erstwhile DMK administration for the stampede and spoke of having “a score to settle”.

Kumar contended that such public statements could set a “narrative” about the merits of the case, thereby violating the Supreme Court order entrusting the probe to the CBI. He clarified that there was no objection to providing compensation to victims.

‘Injunction on free speech?’

The bench remained unconvinced by the petitioner’s arguments. Justice Viswanathan questioned the underlying intent of the application, asking,

“So you want us to impose an injunction on free speech?”

“You counter their speech with your speech. How does the Supreme Court, in a matter where it ordered a CBI investigation, allow the impleadment of a political rival and pass one order after the other?”

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In response to claims that the Chief Minister was playing a “dual role”, acting as both the head of the executive and being implicated in the case, Justice Viswanathan clarified that Vijay was not named as an accused in the FIR.

“Please check up with your facts,” the judge said and asked the counsel to verify the same.

Senior Advocate Neeraj Kishan Kaul, appearing for the respondents, also placed on record that Chief Minister Vijay has not been named as an accused in the ongoing CBI probe.