Madras High Court Reserves Orders On Pleas Seeking CBI Probe Into Kallakurichi Hooch Tragedy

The bench of Acting Chief Justice D Krishnakumar and Justice PB Balaji reserved the orders on pleas filed by I.S Inabadurai, K Balu, Dr A Sridharan, A Mohan Doss, and B Parthasarathy.

The petitioners had argued that the state machinery had failed in tackling the sale and consumption of spurious liquor. It was contended that hooch tragedy incidents were not new to the state and that the entire system of Tamil Nadu including the police, revenue authorities, etc had failed which was evident from the preset incident in Kallakurichi.

It was further argued that the people had lost faith in the investigating agency and the State itself transferring the collector and suspending the Commissioner of Police was an indication that something was not right.

It was also argued that the state police had done shoddy investigations in every hooch tragedy case which has led to collective frustration among people. It was also argued that since Methanol, which was mixed in the alcohol, had been discovered from Pondicherry and since it brings an inter-state issue, it would be appropriate to transfer the investigation to the CID which could effectively carry out the investigation.

The AG, however, objected to the CBI probe and submitted that the state had taken all possible steps to prevent such tragedies. He submitted that the Superintendent of Police had been suspended and the ADGP (Enforcement) had been shifted out of the post. The AG also appraised the court that the investigation had been transferred to the CB-CID and a one-man commission comprising of Justice (Retd) B Gokuldas had also been appointed by the Chief Minister to look into the issue and recommend further steps.

The AG also submitted that the CB-CID had completed the investigation, arrested 24 individuals, and was ready to file a charge sheet. He also submitted that the source of Methanol had been traced, witnesses were examined and the agency was awaiting the serology and toxicology report before filing the chargesheet. He submitted that there would be no use in transferring the investigation to the central agency at this stage as the agency would then have to begin the investigation from scratch.

Case Title: IS Inbadurai v The Chief Secretary and Others

Case No: WP 16519 of 2024