The Supreme Court on Monday ordered an inquiry by the Central Board of Investigation into 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.

A bench comprising Justices JK Maheshwari and NV Anjaria passed the interim order on a petition filed by Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam and other parties.

The court also constituted a three-member supervisory committee, headed by former Supreme Court judge Justice Ajay Rastogi, to ensure that the investigation is impartial, Live Law reported.

Rastogi has been asked to select two senior Indian Police Services officers, not below the rank of inspector general of police. The officers can be from the Tamil Nadu cadre, but should not be natives of the state.

The committee has been tasked with monitoring the CBI investigation. The agency will have to submit monthly reports to the committee on the progress in the investigation, according to Live Law.

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. Among those who died were 18 women and nine children.

The Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam’s petition had challenged an October 3 Madras High Court order that had constituted a Special Investigation Team of Tamil Nadu Police officers to probe the stampede.

The party also sought an independent investigation into the stampede monitored by the Supreme Court.

It took objection to the High Court forming a Special Investigation Team comprising only officers from the Tamil Nadu Police.

The petition claimed there was a possibility of a “pre-planned conspiracy” by “miscreants” behind the stampede. It argued that an independent investigation was unlikely if it was carried out by the state police.

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