New Delhi: The Delhi High Court on Wednesday sought a response from the Indian Railways over a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) regarding the stampede at New Delhi Railway Station, which resulted in the death of 18 people.
A bench headed by Chief Justice DK Upadhyay issued a notice to the Indian Railways while hearing a petition seeking to fix the maximum number of passengers in coaches and platform tickets. The High Court asked Railways to consider fixing the maximum number of passengers in coaches and regulate platform ticket sales. The court also directed the Railways to inform about the steps taken to deal with such stampedes. During the hearing, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta on behalf of the Railways said the PIL should not be taken in an adverse manner and the Railways is bound to follow the rules.
During the hearing, Mehta said that an unexpected situation had arisen on the day of the incident. He assured the court that the Railways would consider the questions raised in the petition at the high level. The court said the petition is not only related to the recent stampede, but also the maximum number of passengers in a coach and the legal provisions of platform tickets. The court said if the legal provisions had been implemented, then the stampede at New Delhi Railway Station could have been avoided.
The petition has been filed by a group of law students. Advocates Aditya Trivedi and Shubhi Pastor appearing on behalf of the petitioners said that the railway administration violated sections 57 and 147 of the Railway Act. Section 57 states that the railway administration has to fix the maximum number of passengers in every compartment. Under Section 147, there is a provision to sell platform tickets in case a person does not have a travelling ticket. The petition states that the railways should follow the rules for Mahakumbh to ensure crowd management. The next hearing of the case is on March 26.
