Vijay hasn’t been named in FIR due to political reasons, litigant complains before Madras High Court

Actor and president of Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) C. Joseph Vijay has not been named in a First Information Report (FIR), registered in connection with the death of 41 people at the recent Karur stampede, “due to political reasons,” a litigant has complained to the Madras High Court.

In a petition listed for hearing before Justice N. Senthilkumar on Friday (October 3, 2025), the litigant has sought to restrain the Home Secretary and Director General of Police from granting permission for road shows until the formulation of guidelines/Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for such events.

Filing an affidavit in support of his writ petition, P.H. Dinesh, 44, of Villivakkam in Chennai, charged the TVK with the full responsibility for the death of 41 individuals at Karur. He said, the tragedy occurred due to “careless planning and complete negligence by the organisers.”

The litigant stated that the crowd, which had thronged the venue to see Mr. Vijay and listen to his speech, was misled to believe that he would address the gathering at Velusamypuram in Karur at around 12 noon, though he arrived at the spot only after 7 p.m., thereby making the public wait for over seven hours.

Stating that the long delay in the leader’s arrival, lack of drinking water facilities, absence of barricades, and so on were the reasons for the deaths, the litigant said, the crowd went berserk to catch the water bottles thrown by him from his caravan, and that led to more number of deaths and injuries.

Though the police had registered an FIR against TVK general secretary ‘Bussy’ Anand alias N. Anand, deputy general secretary C.T.R. Nirmal Kumar, and a few others, “for reasons best known to the authorities… the FIR did not include the name of Mr. Vjay. The said act is purely for political reasons,” the affidavit read.

Alleging that the criminal proceedings initiated by the police against the second-rung leaders of the TVK appears to be an “eye-wash,” the petitioner said, he had made a representation to the Home Secretary as well as the DGP on September 30, 2025, for ensuring a free and fair probe into the tragedy.

In the representation, the petioner had claimed that attempts were being made to “shield” Mr. Vijay from criminal prosecution despite him being directly responsible for the deaths and said: “such an approach not only undermines the rule of law but also denies justice to the families of the 41 innocent victims.”

He had also insisted upon framing an SOP, thereby making it mandatory for the police to carry out risk assessment before granting permission for such public events, impose restrictions on number of people who could be allowed to gather, adhere to time restrictions strictly, ensure emergency evacuation plans, and so on.

The litigant urged the court to issue a direction to the Home Secretary and DGP to frame the guidelines/SOP by considering his representation and not to grant permission for road shows by any political party until the formulation of such guidelines/SOP.