The Madras High Court, in its order on Tuesday, directed the CBI inquiry to investigate the hooch tragedy in Kallakurichi taluk in Tamil Nadu on June 19, where 68 persons died.
This tragedy is probably among the worst in that state, as it has been experienced numerous times. The Tamil Nadu Police had been overseeing the investigation probing and had arrested more than a dozen persons in relation to the said event. However, increasing doubts about investigation neutrality meant that the case was transferred to the CBI.
The decision was passed by a bench of Justice D. Krishnakumar and Justice P.B. Balaji after it allowed various petitions to be filed by the opposition parties, such as the AIADMK, BJP, and PMK. The Opposition has accused the DMK regime and the Tamil Nadu government headed by it of corruption that led to the manufacture and sale of the banned liquor that caused the tragedy.
The incident came a few weeks after Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin expressed his condolences and vowed to pay ₹10 lakh to the families of the deceased. Further, he committed the government’s support to areas of education and hostels for the children who have been orphaned. In case a child has lost both parents, the total amount of ₹ 5 lakh will be directly transferred to their account for their financial stability.
The incident caused massive protests and individual tragedies, alerting people and making them doubt the efficiency of state measures for regulating illegitimate production and sale of spurious spirits. The families of the victims and the citizens trust that they will be able to get to the bottom of the case since the CBI is taking the central post in the investigation. It also draws attention to the fact that laws aimed at curbing such disasters should be implemented more vigorously to avoid such scenes in the future.
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