Supreme Court Skeptical of DMK Plea to Restrain CM's Engagements on Karur Stampede Case

The Supreme Court on Tuesday pulled up the DMK over its plea seeking to restrain Tamil Nadu Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay from visiting families of Karur stampede victims, asking how the court could possibly regulate the CM's movements, before the party agreed to withdraw the application.

A partial working day bench of Justices KV Viswanathan and Alok Aradhe asked the DMK as to how can the court regulate the visit of the executive head.

The bench asked the DMK, represented by senior advocate Ranjit Kumar, how does visiting stampede victims amount to influencing witnesses.

Vijay is scheduled to meet the families of the stampede victims on July 10.

The court told Kumar that the DMK may wish to withdraw its plea and avail any other remedy under law or else the court will dismiss it.

Kumar agreed to withdraw the plea with liberty to approach any other forum.

The top court dismissed the plea as withdrawn.

DMK secretary RS Bharati had filed the plea seeking to restrain the Tamil Nadu chief minister, state minister Aadhav Arjuna and other accused people from making public statements on the case and to regulate their interaction with victims' families during the pendency of the CBI probe.

The plea referred to reports that the chief minister is scheduled to visit Karur to distribute government orders, compassionate appointments and other benefits to the families of the deceased and injured victims.

Bharathi, who has sought impleadment in a pending case, submitted that several people initially chargesheeted in the case were now ministers in the Tamil Nadu Cabinet following the 2026 assembly elections.

The Karur stampede occurred on September 27, 2025, during a TVK public rally in Velusamipuram, Karur, then attended by Vijay while he was campaigning for the Assembly elections. The stampede killed 41 people and left over a hundred injured.