'Tamil Nadu Police Turned Blind Eye To Illicit Liquor': Madras High Court Transfers Kallakurichi Hooch Tragedy Cases To CBI

The Madras High Court on Wednesday (20 November) ordered the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to take over the probe into the Kallakurichi hooch tragedy, which claimed 68 lives in Tamil Nadu during June and July.

The court also directed the Crime Branch-Criminal Investigation Department (CB-CID) to transfer all case materials to the central agency within two weeks.

“The CBI is directed to investigate all the aspects of the three cases (relating to hooch tragedy) and file the final report before jurisdictional court as early as possible,” the bench said in the order.

The order was issued by a Second Division Bench comprising Justices D Krishnakumar and P B Balaji in response to a series of writ petitions filed by I S Inbadurai of the AIADMK, K Balu of the PMK, B Parthasarathy of the DMDK, and A Mohan Dass of the BJP.

The petitioners argued that hooch tragedies had become a recurring issue in Tamil Nadu and that previous CB-CID investigations had failed to act as a sufficient deterrent, The Hindu reported.

The bench agreed with the submissions made by senior counsels N L Rajah, V Raghavachari, and advocate ‘Elephant’ G Rajendran, concluding that the case warranted CBI intervention due to the significant loss of life.

In a separate but concurring judgment, Justice Balaji remarked that the Kallakurichi incident should serve as a societal wake-up call to address the dangers of alcohol abuse.

He expressed concern over how the sale of spurious liquor could occur unnoticed by local authorities, noting that the operation seemed to take place in full view of the police, who appeared to turn a blind eye.

Justice Balaji emphasised that transferring the investigation from the CB-CID to the CBI was essential to ensure a thorough and impartial probe while accusing the police of ‘turning a blind eye’ to the illicit liquor spree.