The Madras High Court on Friday constituted a Special Investigation Team to probe the stampede at actor-politician Vijay’s Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam rally in Tamil Nadu’s Karur district, which left 41 persons dead, Live Law reported.

The SIT will be headed by Inspector General of Police Asra Garg.

Justice N Senthilkumar verbally criticised the party’s “attitude” of “abandoning” the site after the incident.

The court said that the Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam did not express remorse after the stampede.

The court added that it cannot shirk its responsibility. “The entire world has witnessed the events,” Live Law quoted the court as saying.

The order came on a plea filed by a man who had sent a representation to the state authorities requesting guidelines for roadshows and an investigation into the tragedy.

The petitioner said the stampede, which occurred on September 27 evening at Veluchamy Puram, was not just an accident but the result of “careless planning and complete negligence” by organisers.

He added that there is an absence of standard operating procedures for political rallies and said that without such guidelines, similar incidents could happen again.

Earlier in the day, the Madurai bench of the High Court had rejected a clutch of petitions seeking a Central Bureau of Investigation probe into the stampede, Live Law reported.

Another set of petitions before the Madurai bench had sought the framing of standard operating procedures for political gatherings.

A division bench of Justices M Dhandapani and M Jothiraman had said that the petitioners could instead file applications to join an existing case before the principal bench, which had already directed the state government to frame guidelines.

The state government also told the Madurai bench on Friday that until the standard operating procedures were finalised, no political party would be granted permission to hold meetings in non-designated places, Live Law reported.

Recording the submission, the bench said that this would not affect public gatherings by parties in designated places. However, the court directed parties to ensure drinking water, toilets and parking facilities at their events, Live Law reported.

The stampede took place on September 27 at Veluchamy Puram in Karur, shortly after 7.30 pm, when Vijay was addressing supporters from his campaign vehicle.

Several of those who attended the rally fainted due to overcrowding. The Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam chief’s speech was interrupted twice as ambulances were brought in to take those who collapsed.

The first information report filed in the matter alleged that while permission had been granted for 10,000 attendees, more than 25,000 persons gathered at the venue. A day prior to the event, television channels had said that Vijay would arrive at Karur by noon, but he reached the district by 4.45 pm.

Among those who died were 18 women and nine children.

Following the stampede, the Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam had also approached the court seeking suo motu cognisance of the incident.

The party, in its petition, claimed that there were “some conspiracies” at play that led to the stampede. The petition sought a suo motu investigation or a probe by an independent agency.

Stalin criticises BJP’s fact-finding team visit

Meanwhile, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin on Friday criticised the Bharatiya Janata Party for sending a fact-finding team to Karur following the stampede.

The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam president questioned why the BJP had not sent delegations after the ethnic violence in Manipur, the Morbi bridge collapse in Gujarat or the stampede at the Maha Kumbh Mela in Uttar Pradesh.

“There is no concern,” Stalin said on social media. “It is a petty act of seeking political gain in the 2026 elections”.

On Monday, BJP chief JP Nadda had announced that a delegation of MPs from the ruling National Democratic Alliance would visit Karur to look into the circumstances leading to the stampede.

The delegation included BJP MPs Hema Malini, Anurag Thakur, Tejasvi Surya, Aparajita Sarangi, Braj Lal and Rekha Sharma. Shiv Sena (Eknath Shinde) MP Shrikant Shinde and Telugu Desam Party MP Putta Mahesh Kumar were also part of the team.

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