Daijiworld Media Network – Chennai

Chennai, Jul 10: The Madras High Court on Friday permitted the Tamil Nadu government to provide government jobs to the families of those who died in the Karur stampede tragedy last year, while making it clear that the appointments would be temporary and subject to judicial review.

A division bench comprising Justice C.V. Karthikeyan and Justice R. Sakthivel observed that it would be "extremely narrow" for the court to interfere with a policy decision taken by the state government.

However, the bench said it would examine whether such appointments could be granted in the absence of a uniform government policy governing employment assistance for families affected by public tragedies.

The court also allowed the state government to go ahead with its scheduled 3 pm function to hand over appointment letters to the victims' families.

The bench directed that the appointments would remain temporary until the matter is finally decided and clarified that they would be subject to the outcome of the case.

The court further observed that it intends to hear the matter by the end of this month before the prospective appointees receive their first salary.

The Karur stampede, which occurred in September last year, claimed several lives, following which the Tamil Nadu government announced government jobs for the affected families as part of its relief measures.