'Move high court', SC refuses to entertain PIL seeking probe into Hathras stampede

New Delhi, July 12:  The Supreme Court on Friday refused to entertain a PIL seeking the immediate constitution of a five-member expert committee under the supervision of a retired apex court judge to enquire into the July 2 Hathras stampede incident.

At least 121 people, including women and children, were killed in a stampede at a religious congregation organised by self-styled godman Narayan Sakar Hari in Fhulrai village in Uttar Pradesh's Hathras district, which was reportedly attended by over one lakh people, mostly women.

At the very outset, a bench presided over by CJI D.Y. Chandrachud questioned the petitioner-in-person for filing the plea directly before the apex court under Article 32 of the Constitution.

“You can file the PIL before the Allahabad High Court. High Courts are robust courts. They are meant to deal with these kinds of matters. You move the High Court,” added the Bench, also comprising Justices J.B. Pardiwala and Manoj Misra.

The apex court declined to accept the PIL litigant's prayer to transfer the petition to the Allahabad High Court on its own cause but granted him liberty to approach the High Court in terms of Article 226 of the Constitution.

The PIL filed before the apex court sought directions to the UP government to submit a status report and initiate legal action against the organisers, authorities and officials for their “negligent conduct”.

“The incident of a stampede at a religious gathering Satsang event in India’s northern state of Uttar Pradesh on Tuesday has killed at least 100 people…It is therefore of prime importance for the Hon’ble Court to intervene in this matter of great public importance and protect the fundamental rights of people under Article 21 of the Constitution of India,” it said.

Such incident prima facie depicts the serious condition of responsibility lapse, negligence and unfaithful duty of care towards the public by the government authorities, the plea added.

Further, the PIL sought directions to all the state governments to issue guidelines to prevent stampede or other incidents for the safety of the public in religious and other events where large numbers of people gather.

It said that quite often there are reports of casualties occurring due to overcrowding and lack of management by the administration or municipal bodies but we have not learnt anything from the past.

“From the 1954 Kumbh Mela stampede accident leading to 500 casualties to the death of more than 100 people in a stampede during Satsang Event in Hathras district of Uttar Pradesh, it is clear and visible to mention that nothing in the administration activity of our country has changed wherein such actions could have been avoided by showing reasonable duty of care and upfront repair and development activity,” said the plea filed by advocate Vishal Tiwari.

Meanwhile, the Yogi Adityanath government in Uttar Pradesh has ordered the suspension of six officials, including the Sub Divisional Magistrate (SDM), Circle Officer (CO) and Tehsildar, on the recommendations of the SIT report.

Earlier, the state government had set up a three-member Judicial Inquiry Commission under the chairmanship of retired Justice Brijesh Kumar Srivastava (II) of Allahabad High Court to investigate the incident.