The Madras excessive courtroom on Wednesday ordered a central bureau of investigation (CBI) probe into the June 19 hooch tragedy in Tamil Nadu that claimed 67 lives in Kallakurichi. The Tamil Nadu Police have been investigating the incident and arrested over a dozen accused.
The courtroom on Wednesday was of the “prima facie view” that the Kallakurichi hooch tragedy “is likely one of the rarest of uncommon circumstances which warrants a good and neutral investigation by the CBI” referring to pronouncements of the Supreme Court docket within the matter of switch of circumstances to the federal company.
A bench of justices D Krishnakumar and PB Balaji requested the Tamil Nadu police handy over all case diaries to the CBI in Chennai inside two weeks. The courtroom additionally directed the CBI, Chennai, to file last studies earlier than the jurisdictional courtroom as expeditiously as potential. “Pointless to state, the State police shall lengthen their fullest cooperation to the CBI for the graceful conduct of investigation,” the courtroom stated.
The order was primarily based on a batch of pleas filed by opposition All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK), Bharatiya Janata Celebration (BJP) and its ally Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK). The opposition has accused the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK)-led Tamil Nadu authorities of corruption that allegedly led to the manufacturing of spurious liquor. It was a political setback for the DMK when the tragedy occurred quickly after the Lok Sabha elections the place the occasion noticed a landslide victory profitable all seats.
“That the incident occurred inside a stone’s throw distance from the police station actually stuns us as to the way it may have gone unnoticed,” the courtroom stated.
On the day of the tragedy the state suspended and transferred Kallakurichi’s collector, superintendent of police and a slew of different authorities officers. “To prime all of it, when senior police officers have been suspended instantly, one of many suspensions was even revoked with out correct causes,” the courtroom stated.
It additional stated: “But, regardless of all of the suspensions and posting of one of many prime officers in a non-sensitive publish, the State has not been capable of exhibit what disciplinary motion has been initiated in opposition to these officers. All this solely leads us to imagine that both there was certainly an unholy connection amongst the individuals concerned within the manufacture and sale of illicit liquor and the police authorities or the suspensions have been merely knee-jerk reactions within the warmth of the second to merely appease the general public. Both method, we aren’t capable of admire the actions taken by the State and actually, it’s only their inaction and acutely aware silence that looms massive.”
One other intriguing facet for the courtroom was that on June 19, Kallakurichi’s then district collector had stated in a press meet that the reason for dying can’t be attributed to consumption of illicit arrack alone. Later within the day, the superintendent of police, Kallakurichi, was suspended the place the state gave a purpose that he didn’t curb the sale of illicit arrack in his jurisdiction.
“This mutually contradictory stand of the State is certainly jaw-dropping,” the courtroom stated. “Subsequent, the stand of the State that the Hon’ble Speaker disallowed the Name Consideration Movement moved by Mr. Senthilkumar, MLA of Kallakurichi Constituency as regards curbing the sale of illicit liquor in Kallakurichi and therefore, the matter didn’t come to the discover of the State is simply too huge a capsule to swallow, particularly within the mild of the very fact the police do have data of manufacture of illicit liquor in Kalvarayan hills close to Kallakurichi. That aside, the principle allegation levelled by the petitioners is simply with regard to mixing of methanol.”
The courtroom then raised twin hooch tragedies final yr that passed off in Marakkanam in Villupuram district and Madurantakam in Chengalpattu district.
“At this juncture, it’s price mentioning that within the aftermath,” courtroom stated referring to a letter written by the director common of police (DGP) to the house division in December 2023, “highlighting that there aren’t any clearcut pointers for dealing with methanol as within the case of distribution, transportation and sale of unlawful arrack” and had solicited acceptable additional directions. “Although the police declare that they’re taking all earnest steps to curb the sale of illicit liquor, this Court docket is of the view that the bottom actuality mirrored within the 2023 hooch tragedy circumstances in Chengalpattu and Villupuram and the 2024 Kallakurichi incident is in any other case,” the courtroom stated.
“As already noticed above, had the State acted upon the 13.12.2023 communication of the Director Normal of Police in letter and spirit, the lives of 67 harmless individuals of Kallakurichi may have been saved,” it stated.
The courtroom refused to just accept the state authorities’s argument that since investigation within the circumstances in Kallakurichi, Villupuram and Chengalpattu is nearly full so that they needn’t be transferred from the CB-CID to the CBI because the latter company must solely begin investigating from scratch.
“This argument, once more, doesn’t reduce ice with this Court docket, as a result of, it’s trite regulation that even after a cost sheet is filed, a case might be revamped to the CBI and judgments on this level are legion,” the courtroom stated. “Additional, the CBI, Chennai, is directed to analyze all features of the aforesaid three circumstances and file last studies earlier than the jurisdictional Court docket as expeditiously as potential.”
