SC calls Hathras stampede ‘very disturbing’, directs petitioner to move HC first
The petition highlighted several lapses, including the failure of state and municipal authorities to maintain supervision and control the crowd at the religious congregation on July 2.
The Supreme Court on Friday described the Hathras stampede, which claimed 121 lives on July 2, a “very disturbing incident” even as it directed a petitioner who filed a public interest litigation (PIL) to approach the jurisdictional high court first for the appointment of an expert committee under the supervision of a retired judge to investigate the tragedy.
“You file it in the high court. These are obviously very disturbing incidents. At the same time, high courts are robust courts and they are competent to deal with these cases. It does not have to come here directly under Article 32,” a bench, led by Chief Justice of India Dhananjaya Y Chandrachud, told advocate-petitioner Vishal Tiwari.
Tiwari sought to point out that his petition has made all states and Union territories as parties and seeks extensive guidelines for the entire country. But the bench, also comprising justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra, retorted that Tiwari’s petition largely hinged on the Hathras stampede which could be looked into by the jurisdictional high court at Allahabad in Uttar Pradesh. The court then proceeded to close the matter in the Supreme Court giving Tiwari liberty to move the high court concerned.
The tragic incident occurred on July 2 during a prayer meeting led by self-styled godman Narayan Saakar Hari in Hathras district, Uttar Pradesh. The large crowd at the event led to a stampede, resulting in the loss of 121 lives. The petition highlights several lapses, including the failure of state and municipal authorities to maintain supervision and control the crowd.
“Several questions brew up from this horrific incident of stampede thereby questioning the duty and lapse of State Government and Municipal Corporations. Apart from the failure of maintaining and administering the supervision, the authorities have also failed in controlling the crowd gathered for the event,” the petition submitted.
The petition urges the court to direct the Uttar Pradesh government to submit a status report and initiate legal action against those who acted negligently regarding safety and crowd control measures. It also calls for states to issue guidelines to prevent stampedes and ensure public safety during large gatherings, and to submit reports on the medical facilities available to handle such incidents.
The petition references past stampede incidents that have claimed lives, such as the 1954 Kumbh Mela stampede, the 2007 Mecca Masjid stampede, the 2022 Mata Vaishno Devi shrine stampede, the 2014 Dussehra celebrations stampede at Gandhi Maidan in Patna, and the deaths of around 104 Sabarimala devotees at Pulmedu in Idukki.
An FIR was lodged on July 3 under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) sections 105 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder), 110 (attempt to commit culpable homicide), 126 (2) (wrongful restraint), 223 (disobedience to order duly promulgated by the public servant), and 238 (causing disappearance of evidence). Narayan Saakar Hari was not named in the FIR, and his whereabouts remain unknown.
In a video statement to news agency ANI on July 6, Hari expressed his depression over the stampede incident and urged the affected families to have faith in the judiciary. This statement came hours after Dev Prakash Madhukar, a close aide of Hari and the main accused in the stampede, surrendered to the police in New Delhi. Madhukar, the ‘mukhya sevadar’ of the satsang where the stampede occurred, is currently in the custody of Uttar Pradesh Police.
