Kallakurichi hooch tragedy: Madras High Court to hear on June 21 a plea for CBI probe

The Madras High Court on Thursday agreed to hear on Friday a public interest litgation petition seeking a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into the Kallakurichi hooch tragedy that had so far claimed over 30 lives and left many others hospitalised.

Since Acting Chief Justice R. Mahadevan is sitting at the Madurai Bench of the High Court this week, a Division Bench of Justices D. Krishnakumar and K. Kumaresh Babu accepted a request made by advocate D. Selvam for an urgent hearing of the PIL petition to be filed by I.S. Inbadurai of AIADMK.

Kallakurichi hooch tragedy: Victims leave behind shattered families, broken dreams

Mr. Selvam said the death toll at Karunapuram in Kallakurichi district had been increasing drastically and this was a serious issue that required an investigation by the central agency because the local police had failed to act despite complaints made for long.

On the other hand, Additional Public Prosecutor (APP) R. Muniyapparaj told the Division Bench that the Crime Branch-Criminal Investigation Department (CB-CID) had taken up the investigation and that the Collector as well as the Superintendent of Police (SP) had been transferred and suspended respectively.

Since the PIL petition was yet to be numbered and placed before them, the judges asked the APP to come prepared with written instructions on Friday by when the Registry was directed to number the petition, if it was otherwise in order, and list it for hearing.

Later, in the day, the Registry numbered the PIL petition. Filing an affidavit in support of his plea for a CBI probe, Mr. Inbadurai said a number of deaths had been reported across the State, due to spurious liquor, ever since the DMK assumed power in May 2021.

Accusing the government of having failed to take stringent action against the such sale, he said, the AIADMK Member of the Legislative Assembly, representing Kallakurichi constituency, had complained about the issue in the House as well as to the SP long back but no action was initiated.

The petitioner insisted on a CBI probe since there was serious suspicion of the spurious liquor sale having taken place with the connivance of local politicians belonging to the ruling party and the police personnel.