Madras high court blames government inaction for Kallakurichi hooch deaths

CHENNAI: The Madras High Court on Friday censured Tamil Nadu for its inaction against the sale of illicit liquor in the state. "Even after learning a lesson from the 2023 Marakkanam incident, the state has failed to take action," the court said.
"If the authorities had acted after the Marakkanam incident, the Kallakurichi deaths could have been avoided," a division bench of Justice D Krishnakumar and K Kumaresh Babu stated.
The court then directed the state to ensure proper and adequate treatment for the victims and to file an action-taken report by June 26.
The bench passed the order on a PIL moved by former MLA and AIADMK lawyer IS Inbadurai, seeking a CBI probe into the incident.
When the plea came up for hearing, the bench said, "If we remember correctly, there was a news report about the sale of illicit liquor in Kallakurichi even before the incident."
"I shouldn’t be saying this… I don’t believe in interviews with YouTubers… But a particular YouTuber made allegations specifically against persons responsible for the sale of illicit liquor in Kalvarayan Hills, Kallakurichi," Justice Kumaresh Babu said.
The bench then asserted that the incident happened only because of inaction on the part of the officials concerned.
Responding to the plea, Advocate-General PS Raman submitted that actions have been taken against 16 police officials and that the ADGP of the enforcement wing has been transferred apart from the district collector and superintendent of police.
"Transferring officials is right, but who will answer for the loss of lives? Most of them are breadwinners of their families," the bench said.
Explaining the ground situation, the AG submitted that as of 9:45 am today, 47 victims have died and 117 are undergoing treatment. Of these, 89 are stable and 28 are critical.