On October 13, the Supreme Court abruptly applied the brakes on a fledgling investigation of a Madras High Court-appointed Special Investigation Team (SIT) and a State-constituted Enquiry Commission headed by Justice (retired) Aruna Jagadeesan into the Karur stampede (on September 27, 41 people were killed during a stampede at a political rally hosted by actor-cum-politician Vijay in Karur district, Tamil Nadu).

Both the SIT and Justice Jagadeesan were directed to immediately hand over papers and evidence to the officers of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). The top court’s decision to shift the Karur stampede investigation to the CBI was powered by two “sweeping” factors — the “political undertones” of the case and a perception that top-ranking Tamil Nadu Police officers made comments in a press conference to the extent that their subordinates were not at fault. The Bench of Justices J.K. Maheshwari and N.V. Anjaria concluded that the conduct of the State’s senior police officers “may create doubt in the minds of the citizenry about the impartiality and fairness of the investigation”, necessitating its transfer to the CBI.

The CBI is a central agency governed by the Delhi Special Police Establishment Act, 1946 which traces its origins to the Special Police Establishment (SPE) formed in 1941 to weed out corruption in war-time procurements.