At least 121 people, including women and children, were killed in a stampede at a religious congregation organized by self-proclaimed god Narayan Sakar Hari in Fhulrai village in Hathras district of Uttar Pradesh, which was reportedly More than one lakh people, mostly women, attended.
From the outset, a bench chaired by CJI D.Y. Chandrachud personally questioned the petitioner for filing the plea directly before the high court under Article 32 of the Constitution.
“You can file the PIL before the Allahabad High Court. The High Courts are strong courts. They are intended to deal with these types of issues. It moves to the Superior Court,” added the court, also made up of judges J.B. Pardiwala and Manoj Misra.
The top court refused to entertain the plea of the PIL litigant to transfer the petition to the Allahabad High Court on his own cause but granted him liberty to approach the High Court under Article 226 of the Constitution.
The PIL filed before the high court sought directions to the UP government to file a status report and initiate legal action against the organisers, authorities and officials for their “negligent conduct”.
“The stampede incident at a Satsang religious gathering in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh on Tuesday has killed at least 100 people... Therefore, it is of utmost importance that the Hon'ble Court intervene in this matter of great public importance and protect the fundamental rights of people under Article 21 of the Constitution of India,” he said.
This incident prima facie represents the serious situation of lack of responsibility, negligence and unfaithful duty of care towards the public on the part of the government authorities, the plea added.
Further, the PIL sought directions to all state governments to issue guidelines to prevent stampedes or other incidents for the safety of public at religious and other events where large numbers of people gather.
He said that very often there are reports of casualties that occur due to overcrowding and lack of management by the administration or municipal bodies, but we have not learned anything from the past.
“From the Kumbh Mela stampede accident in 1954 that caused 500 casualties to the death of more than 100 people in a stampede during the Satsang event in Hathras district of Uttar Pradesh, it is clear and visible to mention that nothing in the activity administrative of our country has changed in which such actions could have been avoided by showing reasonable duty of care and remedial and development activity in advance,” said the plea filed by lawyer 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, following the recommendations of the SIT report.
Earlier, the state government had set up a three-member Judicial Commission of Inquiry under the chairmanship of retired Allahabad High Court judge Brijesh Kumar Srivastava to probe the incident.
From the outset, a bench chaired by CJI D.Y. Chandrachud personally questioned the petitioner for filing the plea directly before the high court under Article 32 of the Constitution.
“You can file the PIL before the Allahabad High Court. The High Courts are strong courts. They are intended to deal with these types of issues. It moves to the Superior Court,” added the court, also made up of judges J.B. Pardiwala and Manoj Misra.
The top court refused to entertain the plea of the PIL litigant to transfer the petition to the Allahabad High Court on his own cause but granted him liberty to approach the High Court under Article 226 of the Constitution.
The PIL filed before the high court sought directions to the UP government to file a status report and initiate legal action against the organisers, authorities and officials for their “negligent conduct”.
“The stampede incident at a Satsang religious gathering in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh on Tuesday has killed at least 100 people... Therefore, it is of utmost importance that the Hon'ble Court intervene in this matter of great public importance and protect the fundamental rights of people under Article 21 of the Constitution of India,” he said.
This incident prima facie represents the serious situation of lack of responsibility, negligence and unfaithful duty of care towards the public on the part of the government authorities, the plea added.
Further, the PIL sought directions to all state governments to issue guidelines to prevent stampedes or other incidents for the safety of public at religious and other events where large numbers of people gather.
He said that very often there are reports of casualties that occur due to overcrowding and lack of management by the administration or municipal bodies, but we have not learned anything from the past.
“From the Kumbh Mela stampede accident in 1954 that caused 500 casualties to the death of more than 100 people in a stampede during the Satsang event in Hathras district of Uttar Pradesh, it is clear and visible to mention that nothing in the activity administrative of our country has changed in which such actions could have been avoided by showing reasonable duty of care and remedial and development activity in advance,” said the plea filed by lawyer 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, following the recommendations of the SIT report.
Earlier, the state government had set up a three-member Judicial Commission of Inquiry under the chairmanship of retired Allahabad High Court judge Brijesh Kumar Srivastava to probe the incident.