On Monday, October 27, 2025, the Madras High Court is slated to address a significant cluster of cases stemming from the tragic Karur stampede. These proceedings involve actor C. Joseph Vijay’s Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) and specifically focus on the devastating stampede during his campaign on September 27, which tragically resulted in 41 fatalities. A key aspect of the hearings will also be the imperative need to establish comprehensive guidelines and a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for all future political campaigns.
Presiding over these matters will be the first Division Bench, comprising Chief Justice Manindra Mohan Shrivastava and Justice G. Arul Murugan. The proceedings will commence with the second anticipatory bail petition submitted by TVK general secretary ‘Bussy’ Anand, also known as N. Anand. This petition is related to a culpable homicide case initiated against him by the Karur Town police following the stampede that caused 41 deaths.
Earlier, Justice M. Jothiraman had dismissed Anand’s initial anticipatory bail plea during the Dussehra vacation on October 3 at the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court. Subsequently, on October 14, Anand filed a second advance bail plea in the Madurai Bench, naming the Karur Town police as a respondent, despite the Supreme Court having transferred the investigation to the CBI on October 13.
The second petition has since been transferred to the High Court’s principal seat and is slated to be heard under the ‘For Withdrawal’ caption by the Chief Justice’s Bench. Additionally, a writ petition from K. Rajan, filed in the Madurai Bench, which seeks disciplinary action against the Karur Collector and Superintendent of Police, has also been moved to Chennai for review by the first Division Bench.
Beyond these, a separate petition submitted by TVK on September 16 at the Chennai principal seat, which raised concerns about the “onerous” conditions imposed by the police for their political gatherings, is also on the Chief Justice’s Bench docket. Filed before the Karur tragedy occurred, this petition had previously prompted Justice N. Sathish Kumar to urge the State Government to establish guidelines for political campaigns.
Following the Supreme Court’s stance that the critical matter of formulating such guidelines and SOPs should be handled by a Division Bench rather than a single judge, this petition has now been brought before the Chief Justice’s Bench. It will be heard alongside several other individual writ petitions, originally filed in the Madurai Bench, which emphasize the mandatory inclusion of drone surveillance, robust fire safety measures, adequate drinking water, and essential medical facilities at all political campaigns.
Aadhav Arjuna’s Petition
The Chief Justice’s Bench will also address a petition on Monday, October 27, 2025, filed by TVK general secretary for election campaign management, Aadhav Arjuna. He seeks to quash a First Information Report (FIR) lodged against him concerning his allegedly inflammatory social media post. This post reportedly insinuated a youth-led revolt against the Tamil Nadu Government, drawing parallels to events in Sri Lanka and Nepal.
Typically, a petition to quash an FIR would be heard by a single Judge overseeing criminal cases. However, due to the Supreme Court’s ongoing involvement with the Karur stampede tragedy and its interim order transferring the investigation to the CBI, this petition has also been assigned to the Chief Justice’s Bench.
Additionally, a writ petition from BJP councillor Uma Anandan, requesting a CBI investigation into the Karur stampede, is scheduled for hearing before the first Division Bench on Monday, October 27, 2025. Although her petition was filed at the Chennai principal seat during the Dussehra vacation on September 30, it was only numbered on October 8 and had not been scheduled for hearing until now.
Given that her request became redundant after the Supreme Court’s order and her status as a third party to the incident, the Registry has listed her case under the ‘For Maintainability’ caption for the hearing on Monday, October 27, 2025.