The Justice B. Gokuldas Commission of Inquiry, which probed the causes and circumstances leading to the illicit arrack tragedy in Kallakurichi in which 70 persons died in 2024, held officials of the Prohibition and Excise Department responsible for the tragedy.

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“If the authorities vested with the powers of monitoring and scrutinising the storage, transport and sale of methanol had been diligent in their duties, the killer chemical substance could not have found its way from Chennai to Kallakurichi,” the report, which was tabled in the Assembly on Tuesday (September 8, 2026), said.

The Commission also held police officers in the cadre of Sub-Inspectors, Inspectors and Deputy Superintendents of Police attached to regular police stations in Kallakurichi, Sankarapuram and Kachirapalayam, as well as officers of the Prohibition Enforcement Wing in Kallakurichi and Tirukovilur, responsible for the incident.

Departmental action recommended

“Village Assistants, Village Administrative Officers, Revenue Inspectors and the Tahsildars of Kallakurichi, Sankarapuram and Kachirapalayam taluks were also responsible,” the retired judge said, recommending that appropriate action be initiated, including departmental inquiries against officials who were in service immediately after the hooch tragedy.

The Commission recommended that the government make arrangements to provide education, food and shelter to children orphaned by the death of their parents and offer them government jobs after they complete their education.

Besides urging the government to set up industries in Kallakurichi to provide employment to the educated, skilled and unskilled youth of the district, the Judge recommended the creation of another Prohibition Enforcement Wing exclusively for the Kalvarayan Hills, which, he said, was the primary source of illicit arrack. He also recommended upgrading the police station at Kariyalur.