Supreme Court stays Madras HC order scrapping government jobs to Karur stampede victims’ families

The Supreme Court Friday stayed Madras High Court's recent decision to quash the State government's decision to give jobs on compassionate grounds to the family members of the 41 persons killed in the September 2025 Karur stamped.

A Bench of Justice JB Pardiwala and Justice K Vinod Chandran passed the interim order on a petition moved by the State government.

"Issue notice. Judgment passed by the High Court shall remain stayed," the top court said.

The apex court observed that an unfortunate incident had led the government to offer employment to the victim families.

"Stampede took placed. Unfortunate incident happened. The government has decided to compensate them. Should government not give employment?," the Bench remarked.

Senior Advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi represented the State government.

Last month, the High Court had ruled 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.

The High Court passed the judgment 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 led by Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay 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.

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

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