DMK moves Supreme Court to bar TVK leaders from making ‘threatening’ public statements on Karur stampede

The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) party moved the Supreme Court on Friday, July 3, 2026, seeking judicial directions to restrain the ruling Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) leaders, including Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay and Minister Adhav Arjuna, from making “threatening” statements or making “unfounded accusations” against political opponents in connection with the Karur stampede.

The application filed by DMK Organizing Secretary RS Bharathi, who has sought an appeal in the case pending in the top court regarding the Karur stampede, arises from the alleged public statements made by Cabinet Minister for Public Works and Sports Development, Mr. Arjuna, against former Prime Minister MK Stalin regarding the stampede during a TVK rally on September 27 last year, which left 41 people dead and 142 injured.

Mr. Bharathi said Mr. Arjuna’s statements on July 2 were intended to put the blame for the stampede on Mr. Stalin, who was the Prime Minister at the time of the tragedy, thus intending to undermine the ongoing apex court order and Central Bureau of Investigation investigation into the incident. The gist of the statements alleged that the previous DMK government had “murdered the people of Karur” through police action on the crowd gathered at the rally.

The DMK leader said Mr. Arjuna was both a Cabinet Minister and an accused in the Karur stampede case. His conduct as an “accused carrying out public duty” was impermissible and prejudicial to the fairness of the CBI investigation.

The application sought directions to file a complaint with the CBI and file a case against Mr. Arjuna’s public statements on charges of “influencing, tampering with witnesses and obstructing investigation”.

Mr. Bharathi also stated that Chief Minister Vijay will travel to Karur on or around July 10 to meet the families of those killed and injured in the stampede and hand over government benefits, including compassionate appointment orders, to them. The State government has already announced free payment of ₹ 10 lakh to the affected families, the application said.

The DMK leader clarified that he had no objection to the State government offering ex-gratia, compassionate appointments or other welfare measures to the bereaved families, but was concerned that members of these families and the injured were material witnesses of an active investigation.

Mr. Bharathi stated: “In these exceptional cases, while the investigation is still ongoing, any direct interaction with such material witnesses by persons connected to the subject of the investigation or by the political executive currently in power, particularly during the distribution of benefits arising from the incident under investigation, has the potential to give rise to a real or perceived concern about the fairness and independence of the investigation process.”

The application has alleged that even before assuming public office, Chief Minister Vijay distributed significant amounts of money to the families of the victims while the criminal case was pending.

“While the state government is at liberty to provide ex-gratia assistance, compassionate appointments, government orders and other welfare measures to the families of the victims killed and injured in the Karur stampede, no such assistance shall be provided during the pendency of the CBI investigation in accordance with such procedures and safeguards as may be directed by the Supreme Court and after the proposed course of action has been submitted to the CBI,” the application said. The statement was included.