SC declines to hear DMK plea against Vijay, TVK ministers over Karur case remarks

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Tuesday refused to entertain a plea filed by the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) seeking to restrain Tamil Nadu Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay, Minister Aadhav Arjuna and other leaders from making public statements on the Karur stampede case, observing that it could not become a political forum or impose an injunction on political speech. A bench of Justices K.V. Viswanathan and Alok Aradhe expressed its disinclination to hear the application. The DMK then withdrew the plea, following which the court dismissed it as withdrawn while granting liberty to pursue any other remedies available under law. The application was filed by DMK general secretary R.S. Bharathi in the case in which the Supreme Court had last year ordered a CBI probe into the Karur stampede. It was mentioned urgently ahead of Chief Minister Vijay's proposed July 10 visit to Karur to distribute ex gratia compensation and compassionate appointment orders to the families of those killed and injured. Appearing for the DMK, senior advocate Ranjit Kumar argued that Vijay and other TVK ministers were making public statements that were creating a "narrative" around the case despite the investigation being transferred to the CBI under the Supreme Court's orders. Justice Viswanathan questioned the nature of the relief sought. "You want the Chief Minister's visit to be regulated by the Supreme Court and fix his itinerary?" he asked. Kumar clarified that the party was not seeking to prevent the visit but wanted the court to restrain the Chief Minister and ministers from commenting on the merits of the case. The bench remained unconvinced. "So you want us to impose an injunction on speech? You counter their speech with your speech. How can a political rival implead themselves in a matter where the Supreme Court has transferred the matter to the CBI?" Justice Viswanathan observed. The court also questioned how the distribution of Rs 10 lakh ex gratia compensation and compassionate appointments to victims' families could affect the ongoing investigation. When Kumar argued that Vijay was both the head of the political executive and the first accused in the case, Justice Viswanathan corrected him, pointing out that the Chief Minister had not been named as an accused in the FIR. "The Chief Minister is not an accused in the FIRs registered... Today, to make this court a political forum... how is that possible?" the judge said. Senior advocate Neeraj Kishan Kaul, appearing for the respondents, also submitted that Vijay was not an accused in the case. Seeing the court's unwillingness to entertain the plea, Kumar sought permission to withdraw it. He requested that the DMK be allowed to raise its concerns before the monitoring committee headed by former Supreme Court judge Justice Ajay Rastogi, which has been overseeing the CBI investigation. He also informed the bench that the party intended to file a separate contempt petition against Minister Aadhav Arjuna over his public remarks on the case. The bench dismissed the application as withdrawn, while granting liberty to the applicant to pursue other remedies available under law. What the DMK had sought The application maintained that it had no objection to the Tamil Nadu government providing financial assistance or welfare measures to the victims' families. However, it argued that the families were material witnesses in the CBI investigation and that direct interaction with them by political leaders connected to the case could create doubts about the fairness of the probe. It also referred to Vijay's earlier distribution of Rs 20 lakh each to the families of those killed and Rs 2 lakh each to injured victims in October 2025, contending that the proposed distribution of further government benefits after he became Chief Minister required judicial safeguards. The DMK further objected to remarks allegedly made by Minister Aadhav Arjuna on July 2, in which he reportedly said there was "a score to settle" over the Karur incident and accused the previous DMK government of having "killed Karur people through the police." The application alleged that such statements were intended to influence public opinion and prejudice the court-monitored CBI investigation. Besides seeking a restraint on public comments by Vijay, Aadhav Arjuna, Bussy Anand, C.T.R. Nirmal Kumar and other accused persons, the DMK had also sought directions that government benefits be distributed only with safeguards approved by the Supreme Court and after consulting the CBI. It further requested the court to direct the CBI to initiate proceedings against Aadhav Arjuna over his remarks, alleging they amounted to influencing witnesses and obstructing the investigation.