The Supreme Court has dismissed the Tamil Nadu government's petition challenging a Madras High Court order which transferred the investigation into the Kallakurichi hooch tragedy to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
On Tuesday, a bench of Justices J B Pardiwala and R Mahadevan said that it was not inclined to interfere with the high court order. The bench said, "Having heard the advocate general appearing for the petitioners and having gone through the materials on record, we see no good reason to interfere with the very well-reasoned judgment of the High Court. The Special Leave Petitions are, accordingly, dismissed."
67 dies after consuming packet arrack
Notably on July 17, 13 people died after consuming illicit liquor 'packet arrack' in Kallakurichi, Tamil Nadu. The death count later rose to 67 people, marking one of the deadliest hooch tragedies. On November 20, the Madra HC passed the order on the petitions filed by AIADMK Legal Wing Secretary and former MLA I S Inbadurai, President Advocates Forum for Social Justice K Balu, and two others, seeking a CBI probe into the Kallakurichi hooch tragedy.
The HC bench had said, "In view of the foregoing discussion, with specific reference to the authoritative pronouncements of the Supreme Court in the matter of transfer of cases to the CBI, this court is of the prima facie view that this Kallakurichi hooch tragedy case is one of the rarest of rare cases which warrants a fair and impartial investigation by the CBI".
In its order, the high court directed the state police to hand over all the case diaries in CB-CID, Villupuram, to the CBI within two weeks. Accordingly, the high court had directed CBI, Chennai, to investigate all aspects of the three cases involved and submit final reports before the jurisdictional court as expeditiously as possible.
The bench had added that the state police should extend their full cooperation to the federal probe agency for the smooth conduct of the investigation. The bench had also reprimanded the police and said prima facie it was of the view that had the police officials nipped the problem in the bud, the loss of 67 lives in Kallakurichi could have been easily averted.
(With inputs from agencies)
