Job for families of victims of Karur stampede: HC grants time to State to file counter

The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court on Tuesday granted additional time to the State government to file its counter affidavit to a batch of public interest litigation petitions that had sought a direction to restrain the State government from issuing or implementing any government appointment orders arising out of the Karur stampede incident.

Earlier, a Division Bench of Justices C.V. Karthikeyan and R. Sakthivel while permitting the Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK)-led State government to conduct an event in Karur to distribute appointment orders to family members of the victims of the tragic stampede that occurred there in September 2025, had said it would be “extremely narrow” for the court to intervene in a policy decision of the State government. However, the court would permit the event to proceed on the condition that the employment offer was only a temporary basis, subject to judicial review, the judges said.

The court had also directed the State to file a report outlining the guidelines for the grant of jobs on compassionate grounds, and whether those guidelines were satisfied in this case.

“We intend to hear the main matters within the end of the month before the prospective persons to whom employment had been offered receive their first salary. On that condition, the function may go on,” the court had then said.

During the course of the hearing, the State government sought additional time to file its counter affidavit. The court directed the State government to file its counter affidavit by July 24 and posted the matter for hearing to July 27.