File photo of the TVK rally stampede spot in Karur(L), the Madras High Court.
Credit: PTI, iStock Photos
Chennai: The Madras High Court on Monday set a 10-day deadline to the DMK dispensation in Tamil Nadu to frame a draft Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for organising political meetings and rallies in the state. The move is aimed at averting incidents like the stampede at actor-politician Vijay’s rally in Karur on September 27 that claimed the lives of 41 people.
After the Karur incident, Chief Minister M K Stalin had announced that the government would formulate a complete SOP in consultation with everyone from sector experts, political parties, activists and the public across the state. He had also said that the SoP will become a model that can be followed not only by Tamil Nadu but also by other states.
Passing an interim order on a writ petition filed by Vijay’s Tamilaga Vetri Kazhagam (TVK) much before the Karur incident, the bench of Chief Justice M M Shrivastava and Justice G Arul Murugan asked the government to place the draft SOP before the court by November 11. If the government does not comply with the orders, the court said it would direct that applications seeking permission for political meetings must be made 10 days in advance and the police must act on them at least three days before the event.
TVK filed the petition after having been aggrieved by “onerous” conditions imposed by the police for the party’s campaign meetings. After the Karur tragedy, the government announced that it won’t grant fresh permission for conduct of political parties till the SOP is framed.
Though the court initially gave just a week’s time to the government to frame the SOP, the judges extended it by another three days after the Additional Advocate General said several entities needed to be consulted and that they needed more time.
Meanwhile, the court permitted TVK general secretary ‘Bussy’ Anand to withdraw his second anticipatory bail petition in a case filed against him in connection with the Karur stampede.