Stampede probe:Govt to seek services of high court judge

Thiruvananthapuram, Jan 25 (PTI) The Kerala Governmenttoday decided to seek the services of a sitting high courtjudge to conduct a judicial inquiry into the Pullumedustampede that left 102 Sabarimala pilgrims dead.

The Government would seek the services of a sittingjudge of the Kerala High Court "considering the seriousness"of the tragedy, Chief Minister V S Achuthanandan toldreporters after a cabinet meeting.

"It often is difficult to get the services of asitting judge for inquiries considering the heavy workload inhigh courts. However, considering the seriousness of theissue, the government would write to the Chief Justice(of HighCourt) to accept the request", he said.

The terms-of-reference of the inquiry would be decidedafter getting the services of the judge, he said.