Hathras stampede: Petition in Supreme Court seeks court-monitored probe into incident

The petition further sought direction to the committee to suggest and frame guidelines and safety measures to avoid such incidents in public gatherings.

New Delhi: A lawyer has approached the Supreme Court seeking a direction to appoint a five-member expert committee under the supervision of a retired Supreme Court judge, to enquire into the horrific Hathras stampede incident of July 2, 2024 that resulted in the loss of over 120 lives during a religious congregation.

Advocate Vishal Tiwari filed the PIL, also seeking a direction to the committee to suggest and frame guidelines and safety measures to avoid such incidents in public gatherings.

He also asked the State of Uttar Pradesh to submit a status report into the stampede incident and initiate legal action against the persons, authorities and officials responsible, for their negligent conduct.

"The Hathras incident depicted the drastic condition and fate of people due to the lapses, negligence and utter failure of administration purported by the government authorities," the plea said.

The primary question which arises from such situation is who is prima facie liable for the negligence which led to a large number of deaths and grievous injuries, it contended.

Enumerating past incidents, the plea claimed that sadly, no lesson has been learnt.

"From 1954 Kumbh mela Stampede accident, leading to 500 casualties, and the recent incident of death of more than 100 people in the Stampede during Satsang event in Hathras district of Uttar Pradesh, it is clear and visible that nothing in the administration activity of our country has changed wherein such actions could have been avoided by showing reasonable duty of care," the plea claimed.

Quite often there are reports of casualties occurring due to overcrowding and lack of management by the administration and its municipal bodies, thereby causing severe public casualties, it contended.

"After the stampede incident in Hathras, the scene was much horrific. In some videos, it is shown that the dead bodies were put in trucks like luggage one above another and in hospital there was no proper place to keep the bodies the dead bodies are shown lying here and there in undignified manner even without covers. It has also exposed that in emergency situation there is no strong medical system to deal with in proper manner," the plea said.