The Supreme Court has upheld a Madras High Court decision to transfer the investigation of the Kallakurichi hooch tragedy, which resulted in the deaths of 67 people from illicit liquor consumption, to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). The Tamil Nadu government’s plea to challenge this transfer was dismissed by a bench comprising Justices J B Pardiwala and R Mahadevan on Tuesday.
The apex court’s decision came after reviewing the submissions by the advocate general representing the state and examining the materials on record. “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,” stated the bench.
The initial order for a CBI investigation was issued by the Madras High Court on November 20, responding to petitions from figures including AIADMK Legal Wing Secretary and former MLA I S Inbadurai, and President of the Advocates Forum for Social Justice K Balu. The High Court labeled the case as one of the “rarest of rare cases” that necessitates an impartial and thorough investigation by the CBI.
The High Court directive required the state police in CB-CID, Villupuram, to hand over all case diaries to the CBI within two weeks and mandated the state police to provide full cooperation to the CBI to ensure a smooth and efficient investigation. Additionally, the High Court emphasized that timely intervention by police officials could have potentially prevented the tragedy.
