Madras High Court quashes government jobs given to Karur stampede victims’ families

The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court on Monday quashed the Tamil Nadu government’s decision to give government jobs on compassionate grounds to the families of the 41 persons killed in the September 2025 Karur stampede [Theeran Thirumurugan @ Thirumurugan v. The Chief Secretary].

A Bench of Justices CV Karthikeyan and R Sakthivel held that the appointments could not be sustained since public employment must be made in accordance with Articles 14 and 16 of the Constitution.

The Bench noted that several other persons, whose family members had died while in government service, were already waiting for compassionate appointments. The State could not overlook those claims and give jobs to the families of those killed in the stampede, it added.

It suggested that the government could instead fund technical courses and entrepreneurship training for eligible members of the victims’ families.

A detailed copy of the judgment is awaited.

The directions were passed on petitions challenging the government’s decision to offer employment to the families of the 41 persons who died in the September 2025 stampede at a Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) rally in Karur. The tragedy is presently being investigated by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

After the TVK came to power following the Tamil Nadu Assembly elections held in April 2026, the State decided to give jobs to the kin of those who died in the stampede.

The petitions before the High Court argued that compassionate appointments are ordinarily governed by strict rules applicable to the dependants of government employees who die while in service.

The petitioners contended that the government could not extend such appointments to victims of a public tragedy without either following an existing policy or framing uniform guidelines. Selectively offering government jobs, they argued, would violate the guarantees of equality and equal opportunity in public employment under Articles 14 and 16 of the Constitution.

It was also argued that the families had already received ex gratia compensation and that granting employment while the CBI investigation was pending, could influence material witnesses.

The State opposed the petitions. It pointed out that an application raising similar objections had earlier been withdrawn from the Supreme Court with liberty to pursue other remedies.

The government also cited previous instances in which employment had been offered to the families of persons killed in tragedies. It maintained that the decision was a policy measure intended to support families that had lost their earning members.

On July 10, the High Court had permitted the government to distribute the appointment orders. However, it had clarified that the jobs would remain temporary and subject to the final outcome of the case. It had also directed that the beneficiaries should not be paid their first salary before the matter was heard again.

The Court delivered its final verdict today cancelling the appointments.