'Why Tickets Sold Exceeded Limit': Delhi HC Comes Down Heavily At Railways Over Delhi Stampede
As many as 18 people were killed and many were seriously injured when a tragic stampede took place at New Delhi Railway Station on the night of February 15.
The Delhi High Court on Wednesday came down heavily on the Railways over the stampede at New Delhi Railway Station on February 15, in which 18 people were killed.
The HC, while hearing a PIL on the stampede, questioned the need for selling tickets exceeding the capacity of passengers in a coach and asked the Railways to examine the fixing of maximum passengers and sale of platform tickets.
A bench of Chief Justice D K Upadhyaya and Justice Tushar Rao Gedela asked the authorities concerned to state the details of its measures on the issues.
As many as 18 people were killed and many were seriously injured when a tragic stampede took place at New Delhi Railway Station on the night of February 15.
"Let the issues raised in the petition be examined, as suggested by the solicitor general, at the highest level at the Railway Board and thereafter an affidavit be filed by the respondent giving details of the decisions which might be taken by the Railway Board," the court ordered.
"If you fix the number of passengers to be accommodated in a coach, then why do you sell? Why does the number of tickets sold exceed that number? That is a problem," the court said.
Solicitor general Tushar Mehta said the matter was not taken in an adversarial manner and the Railways was bound to follow the law. He said there was an unprecedented situation and assured the court that the issues raised in the PIL would be considered at the highest level.
The court said the PIL was not confined to the recent incident of stampede as it sought implementation of the existing legal provisions with respect to the maximum number of passengers in a compartment and sale of platform tickets.
"If the legal provisions were perhaps implemented adequately, such incidents of stampede could be avoided," it added.
Meanwhile, Justice Gedela said that if the subsequent measures had been taken, the the stampede would not have happened.
"Are you aware of how many lakhs of people were at the station that day? Infrastructurally it may not be possible to control that kind of crowd. The subsequent measures were taken. It is not something like a railway accident to claim negligence," Justice Gedela said.
The matter would come up on March 26. A PIL was also filed in the Supreme Court on February 17, two days after the tragic incident and sought immediate action to prevent such disasters in the future.
The PIL, filed by advocate Vishal Tiwari, sought a direction to the Centre and other authorities for implementation and consideration of a 2014 report of the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) on Managing Crowd at Events and Venues of Mass Gathering.
What Led To Stampede At New Delhi Railway Station
According to a Railway Police Force (RPF) report, about 300 employees of different departments of the railway were present at the station at the time of the incident, including more than 80 RPF personnels.
The railway police said that after the Shivganga Express left platform 12, the number of passengers going to Prayagraj suddenly increased, due to which there was a massive congestion on footover bridge 2 and 3.
Due to the congestion, passengers got stuck on platforms 12-13, 14-15 and 16. Given the rush, the RPF Inspector asked the railway team selling 1,500 tickets every hour for Prayagraj to immediately stop selling tickets.
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