At a time when actor-politician Vijay and his Tamilaga Vetri Kazhagam (TVK) is fighting hard to come out of the damages caused after the deadly Karur stampede, the Election Commission of India (ECI) has dropped yet another shocker for Vijay’s fans and TVK followers. The ECI on Friday informed the Madras High Court that the TVK is only a registered party and not a recognised party.
ECI’s counsel Niranjan Rajagopal made the submission before the first bench comprising Chief Justice M.M. Shrivastava and Justice G. Arul Murugan during the hearing of a PIL filed by C. Selvakumar, seeking de-recognition of TVK. The petition, which was filed before the Madurai Bench, was transferred and listed before the first bench as the first respondent in the case was the ECI.
VIDEO | Tamil Nadu: CBI officials arrive in Karur to probe stampede case after SC order.
41 people lost their lives in a stampede at actor-politician and TVK chief Vijay's public rally in Karur on September 27.
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The petition came up in the wake of the Karur stampede, which killed 41 people during actor Vijay’s campaign rally. In his PIL, Selvakumar had sought a direction to the ECI to strictly enforce the ban on bringing children to the political rallies, public meetings, election campaigns and processions, as per ECI’s directive dated February 24, 2024. The PIL sought the court to issue orders to the ECI to strictly comply with the directive. The petitioner also sought a direction that all the recognised political parties to mandatorily submit an undertaking that the parties will adhere to ECI’s directive and that the ECI can initiate appropriate action if the parties fail to adhere to the prohibitions.
Selvakumar, in his petition, also sought a direction from the court to fix liability upon the leadership of the TVK for mobilising women and children to the Karur rally on September 27 and resulting in a mass killing. He also sought a direction to the TVK for payment of adequate compensation – a minimum Rs 1 crore per deceased and proportionate relief for injured persons.
The bench had earlier directed the registry to place all matters relating to the September 27 Karur stampede before the administrative side of the high court, to constitute a bench for dealing with the cases, except those that were pending before the Supreme Court.
Answering the prayer to alter the FIR against Vijay, the court said that it would be dealt with as per the Supreme Court’s direction, which had transferred the case to the CBI. |
