Overview

• A Supreme Court bench of Justices J. K. Maheshwari and N. V. Anjaria reserved its decision after hearing petitions on who should investigate the September 27 Karur stampede that left 41 dead.
• The court sought a counter affidavit from the Tamil Nadu government on pleas by bereaved families and others urging a probe by a central agency.
• TVK’s petition contests Madras High Court observations about the party’s conduct and opposes an SIT of state police officers, seeking supervision by a former Supreme Court judge for a single, centralized inquiry.
• Counsel for TVK argued leaders were told to leave the venue for public order and said a pre-planned conspiracy by miscreants cannot be ruled out, while the state defended its SIT led by IGP Asra Garg.
• Separately, a CJI-led bench agreed to hear BJP leader Uma Anandan’s plea for a CBI probe, and Karur police detained TVK’s Salem district secretary Venkatesan in a case alleging assault on an ambulance driver.