The Madras High Court on Wednesday ordered a CBI probe into the Kallakurichi hooch tragedy that claimed the lives of 68 people earlier this year. The court also raised concerns over the Tamil Nadu government’s handling of the case and questioned the police’s ability to conduct a fair and impartial investigation.
The tragedy, which unfolded in June and July, exposed systemic failure in curbing the sale of spurious liquor and brought allegations of collusion between law enforcement and criminal elements. The Second Division Bench, comprising Justices D Krishnakumar and P B Balaji, highlighted glaring lapses in governance and expressed disappointment over the reinstatement of suspended police officials, including the former Kallakurichi Superintendent of Police (SP) Samay Singh Meena.
Justice Krishnakumar, who is soon to assume office as Chief Justice of the Manipur High Court, authored the judgment, describing the state’s reasons for reinstating Meena as Deputy Commissioner of Police (Traffic) just weeks after his suspension as unconvincing. “This reason does not cut ice with this court…,” he wrote.
The court noted the possibility of Meena influencing ongoing investigations within the police department, even while posted to a non-sensitive position.
The judgment was also critical of the state’s failure to act decisively against other officials potentially complicit in the tragedy. Justice Balaji, concurring with the senior judge, found it “jaw-dropping” that the sale of spurious liquor occurred so close to police stations.
The Bench said that the magnitude of the tragedy, spanning multiple states including Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, and Puducherry, required an impartial investigation beyond the purview of the state’s Crime Branch-Criminal Investigation Department. “This is one of the rarest of rare cases which warrants a fair and impartial investigation by the CBI,” the court said, ordering the state police to transfer all case files to the central agency within two weeks.
The court noted the long criminal record of the prime accused, Kannukutty alias Govindaraj, who had been booked in 17 prohibition cases since 2009 but continued his illicit trade. The court said this makes it clear that there is merit and substance in the stand of the writ petitioners that Govindaraj has an unholy nexus with the police officials.
While Tamil Nadu Law Minister S Regupathy said the directive to transfer the case to the CBI would only delay justice and that the government has implemented unprecedented measures to address such issues, the AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami urged the government to refrain from appealing the order. BJP state president K Annamalai and PMK chief S Ramadoss also welcomed the order and blamed the state government for mishandling the case.
