The Madras high court’s Madurai bench on July 26 set aside the TVK government’s order granting government jobs to 31 relatives of those who died in the stampede at Karur last year. It said, public employment can’t be thrown away as largesse by the state.
A division bench said that a government job must be earned and that any exercise of executive power must stay within the confines of the Constitution. “If an executive power of the state is left unfettered and given a free hand, then chaos will reign,” the judges said. They added, “Grant of compassionate employment for this incident would open the floodgates to others to seek such employment,” pointing to deaths in recent mishaps.
The Karur stampede, which killed 41 persons and left over a hundred others injured, took place on September 27, 2025 during a rally by current chief minister C. Joseph Vijay to mobilise support for his fledgling Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam party ahead of its electoral debut.
Two months after Vijay formed the new government in Tamil Nadu, he handed appointment letters to 31 people belonging to the families of the victims. This led to many PILs challenging their legality.
The state justified the move, citing a 1999 general order in another case. The HC said, granting jobs to the kin of those killed in the Karur stampede case wasn’t the same. Pointing out that the Supreme Court had laid down principles for compassionate grounds in several judgements, the high court held the decision violative of Articles 14 and 16 of the Constitution.
According to official sources, the Tamil Nadu government may challenge the high court order in the Supreme Court.