Kallakurichi hooch tragedy: Madras High Court orders CBI probe into loss of 68 lives

Justices D. Krishnakumar and P.B. Balaji direct the CB-CID to hand over the case to the central agency

The Madras High Court on Wednesday (November 20, 2024) ordered a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into the Kallakurichi hooch tragedy that had claimed as many as 68 lives in June and July this year in Tamil Nadu, and directed the Crime Branch-Criminal Investigation Department (CB-CID) to hand over the case to the central agency.

The Second Division Bench of Justices D. Krishnakumar and Justice P.B. Balaji passed the orders on a batch of writ petitions filed by I.S. Inbadurai of All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK), K. Balu of Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK), B. Parthasarathy of Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam (DMDK), and A. Mohan Dass of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

The petitioners had contended that hooch tragedies had become a recurring phenomenon in Tamil Nadu and argued that the investigations conducted by the CB-CID in the previous cases were not deterrent enough for the perpetrators of the crime.

Finding force in the submissions made by senior counsel N.L. Rajah, V. Raghavachari, advocate ‘Elephant’ G. Rajendran, and others representing the writ petitioners, the Division Bench held that the case was fit to be transferred to the CBI since more than 60 lives had been lost.

Penning a separate but concurring judgment, Justice Balaji said, the Kallakurichi hooch tragedy must serve as a wake-up call for society to realise the ill effects of alcohol. He added that the court was bewildered to note how such a sale of spurious liquor could have gone unnoticed by the State police.

The judge stated that the sale appeared to have happened right under the nose of the local police but the latter had chosen to turn a blind eye. Therefore, the investigation into the tragedy must necessarily be transferred from the CB-CID to the CBI, he said.

Published - November 20, 2024 11:25 am IST