New Delhi: The Tamil Nadu government has raised strong objections to the Supreme Court’s interim order, directing a CBI probe into the Karur TVK rally stampede, claiming the order was passed without giving the state adequate opportunity to respond.
In an affidavit filed before the top court Tuesday, the DMK-led state government has urged the SC to roll back its interim order, which, it said, has virtually granted final relief at the interim stage. TN’s stand came in response to an appeal filed against a Madras High Court order that declined a CBI probe into the tragedy. Advocate G.S. Mani, also a BJP functionary in Tamil Nadu, is the lead petitioner in the case before the SC.
In an over 80-page affidavit, Tamil Nadu has pointed out technical flaws in the SC’s 13 October order that also appointed a committee headed by former Supreme Court judge Justice Ajay Rastogi. One of the grounds to transfer the probe was public statements made by senior police officers, exonerating the administration.
The order, TN expressed, was issued even before the court determined the legal question on the appeal’s maintainability, a point raised by the Tamil Nadu government.
The court not just took away the probe from the Karur police jurisdiction, but also created an external supervisory mechanism at an interim stage, the state submitted.
Outlining the law, the state contended the order was not in line with a series of Supreme Court decisions that ruled a CBI probe can only be ordered as an extraordinary measure, only when compelling circumstances were demonstrated by the aggrieved party.
Addressing the political overtones of the case, TN contended that routine and vague allegations cannot be a ground to hand over the case to a central agency, particularly because law and order is a state subject.
Conversely, the appeal before SC does not contain sufficient material to meet the threshold of material irregularity, bias or failure of the state police in handling the matter, repeatedly held necessary to direct a CBI probe, the state document maintained.
It also responded to the court’s reservation over senior police officers’ exculpatory public remarks, which SC felt let off the administration that was under a scanner.
Tamil Nadu said such a reasoning cannot be a legitimate basis to transfer the probe. Officers, it said, were bound to inform the public, who have the right to receive information under Article 21, about the rescue work, relief and casualties during a major disaster. To construe dissemination of information as prejudice or partisanship would not be a correct perspective.
Since the state is bound to maintain law and order, it also bears the responsibility to communicate facts to the public. The same cannot be a ground to oust its investigative authority, the state said.
Terming the allegations against the state baseless, the Tamil Nadu government claimed they did not demonstrate any procedural lapse or investigative deficiency on the part of the state police. Rather, the allegations made in the appeal, it said, were based on media reports, conjecture and political allegations. None of these establish facts warranting a CBI probe into the incident.
The state affidavit charged advocate Mani of orchestrating a politically motivated litigation and accused him of using the judicial forum for creating political narratives. It cautioned the court against frequent transfers of probe from state police to CBI as the same would erode the principles of federalism and public trust in the state police.
The state had requested the top court to allow the state-appointed Justice Aruna Jagadeesan Commission to proceed with its statutory task and permit the police to continue with its probe.
(Edited by Viny Mishra)
Also read: How AIADMK & BJP are cornering DMK over Karur stampede & what it means for Vijay’s TVK