The Supreme Court on Friday expressed concerns over how the Madras High Court dealt with matters related to the Karur stampede case. After examining a report submitted by the Registrar General of the High Court, the apex court observed that there seemed to be “something wrong” in the way the High Court handled the proceedings, LiveLaw reported.

A Bench of Justices JK Maheshwari and Vijay Bishnoi directed that the Registrar General’s report be shared with all parties. The Bench also sought their replies before taking further steps.

The Supreme Court had previously raised doubts about the High Court’s role while hearing petitions that demanded an independent investigation into the September 27 stampede. The tragedy occurred during a rally organised by actor Vijay’s political party, Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK), in Karur.

The Bench had questioned how the principal seat of the High Court in Chennai could order the formation of a Special Investigation Team (SIT) made up only of State Police officers, when Karur falls under the jurisdiction of the Madurai Bench. It also noted that the writ petition filed in Chennai was only about creating an SOP for political rallies. The court asked how an SIT order could be passed in a petition that had nothing to do with investigating the stampede, the news report said.

On October 13, when the Supreme Court ordered a CBI probe into the incident, it also asked the Registrar General of the High Court to explain how the Chennai Bench handled the petition.

After reading the report on Friday, Justice Maheshwari remarked, "Something wrong going in the High Court. This is not a right thing that is happening in HC... The Registrar General has sent a report."

Senior Advocate P Wilson, appearing for the state, responded, "In our HC, whatever is incidental to issue coming before court, they pass an order..."

The Bench also refused an oral request to modify a part of its judgment ordering a CBI probe. The concern was over the use of the word ‘native’ in paragraph 33 of that order. In the earlier ruling, the Supreme Court had set up a three-member Supervisory Committee led by former Supreme Court Judge Justice Ajay Rastogi, who was asked to appoint two senior IPS officers -- possibly from the Tamil Nadu cadre -- but “not natives of Tamil Nadu".

The court refused to change this part of the order. It also issued notice on a fresh petition filed by KK Ramesh.

P Wilson also raised the matter of the stay on the State-appointed Commission. He assured that the Commission would only give recommendations to prevent such tragedies and would not interfere with the CBI inquiry. The Bench, however, neither lifted the stay nor issued notice, the news report said.

On October 13, the Supreme Court handed over the investigation to the CBI, citing concerns about possible political influence and public doubt over a fair probe. The stampede had killed 41 people.

The Tamil Nadu government recently submitted its counter-affidavit, blaming the incident on “reckless, negligent and uncoordinated actions” of TVK organisers. The state also sought to cancel the order for a CBI investigation.

TVK had challenged the Madras High Court’s October 3 order forming an SIT with State Police officers, arguing that the court made adverse remarks against the party and its leader Vijay. The petition sought an independent probe monitored by a former Supreme Court judge.

Other petitions questioned why the Madras High Court’s Madurai Bench refused to transfer the case to the CBI. The Supreme Court also raised concerns about why TVK received permission for the rally when AIADMK was denied permission at the same venue for being too narrow, and why postmortems for dozens of victims were conducted at midnight with cremations completed by 4 am.