The Supreme Court on Monday ordered a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into the Karur stampede tragedy and expressed serious reservations over the manner in which the Madras High Court had taken suo motu cognisance of the incident and ordered a Special Investigation Team (SIT) probe.

A bench headed by Justice J.K. Maheshwari constituted a three-member monitoring committee, led by former Supreme Court judge Justice Ajay Rastogi, to oversee the CBI investigation. The committee will include two IPS officers belonging to the Tamil Nadu cadre, but crucially, they must not be natives of the state, the court clarified.

Serious concern over propriety

The top court’s strongly-worded order reflects a rare instance of judicial censure of a High Court judge for what it termed a breach of

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