Kallakurichi hooch tragedy | No need for CBI probe, T.N. Govt tells Madras High Court

State government opposes CBI probe into Kallakurichi hooch tragedy, citing CB-CID investigation progress and arrests.

There is absolutely no need to order a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into the Kallakurichi hooch tragedy, which had claimed 68 lives, since the Crime Branch-Criminal Investigation Department (CB-CID) had already completed the investigation, arrested 24 individuals and ready to file a charge sheet, the State government told the Madras High Court on Friday.

Appearing before the first Division Bench of Acting Chief Justice D. Krishnakumar and Justice P.B. Balaji who were seized of a batch of public interest litigation petitions insisting upon a CBI probe, Advocate General (A-G) P.S. Raman said, the CB-CID had traced out the source of methanol, got 11 out of 24 individuals detained under the Goondas Act and examined as many as 244 witnesses.

He said, the State investigating agency was now awaiting only the receipt of serology and toxicology reports from the forensic laboratory after which the charge sheet would be laid before the court concerned. He wondered whether any purpose would be served by transferring the probe into the hooch tragedy to the CBI at this stage and expect the central agency to begin the investigation from scratch.

The A-G said that a special team headed by a Deputy Superintendent of Police of CB-CID had been constituted to investigate the case and that it had made great strides in a short span of time since the first death was reported on June 19. He also submitted the details of the investigation conducted so far in a sealed cover and said those details could not be shared in the public domain for the present.

Highlighting that the present PIL petitioners I.S. Inbadurai, K. Balu, A. Mohan Doss and B. Parthasarathy belonged to the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK), Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK), Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Desiya Murpokku Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMDK), the A-G said, none of the petitioners had been able to point out any flaw in the investigation conducted by the CB-CID.

He said, Mr. Inbadurai had rushed to the court on June 21 itself without waiting to see how the CB-CID proceeds with the investigation. Responding to the petitioners’ argument that public had lost confidence on the CB-CID probe, the law officer said, not a single member from the families of the deceased or any other public spirited individual or a non governmental organisation had said so.

“You Lordships may test whether it is a politically motiviated statement or whether public confidence has been lost genuinely,” the A-G said and claimed that Mr. Inbadurai had made a wrong submission in his affidavit as if Kallakurichi AIADMK MLA Senthilkumar had lodged a complaint to the Superintendent of Police in 2023 itself regarding rampant sale of illicit liquor in his constituency.