NEW DELHI: Supreme Court agreed to hear Tuesday a plea filed by the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) seeking its intervention to restrain Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK), including chief minister C Joseph Vijay and minister Aadhav Arjuna, from making public statements that could influence witnesses in the Karur stampede case.Appearing before a bench of Justices Ahsanuddin Amanullah and Sheel Nagu, senior advocate Huzefa Ahmadi, representing DMK secretary R S Bharati, sought an urgent hearing. Allowing the request, the bench listed the matter for Tuesday.Ahmadi submitted that chief minister Vijay is scheduled to meet the families of the victims on July 10 and expressed apprehension that witnesses could be influenced. In its petition, the DMK alleged that Vijay had distributed Rs 20 lakh each to the families of those killed and Rs 2 lakh each to injured victims in October 2025 while the criminal proceedings were pending.The application also raises objections to a public statement allegedly made on July 2, 2026, by Tamil Nadu minister Aadhav Arjuna, who is also an accused in the case.The Karur stampede, which occurred during a political event in Sept last year, claimed 41 lives and left several others injured. In Oct 2025, Supreme Court ordered a CBI probe into the tragedy, observing that the incident had “shaken the national conscience”. The apex court also constituted a three-member supervisory committee headed by former Supreme Court judge Justice Ajay Rastogi to oversee the investigation and directed the Tamil Nadu government to extend full cooperation to the investigating agency.
