The Supreme Court on Friday rejected a plea seeking judicial intervention on crowd management following a deadly stampede at New Delhi Railway Station, which reportedly resulted in the deaths of at least 18 people. The plea, which claimed that over 200 individuals had perished in the incident, was not entertained by the apex court due to a lack of conclusive evidence about the alleged death toll.
Justices B R Gavai and P K Mishra, presiding over the case, questioned the authenticity of the claims made by the petitioner’s counsel regarding the death toll. The counsel referenced multiple videos uploaded on social media platform X and noted that the Railways had issued notices to witnesses present at the time of the stampede. However, the justices suggested that those directly affected should individually approach the court.
The plea, aimed at enforcing better implementation of the National Disaster Management Act and associated crowd management rules, was ultimately dismissed by the Supreme Court bench. The justices advised the petitioner to take the matter to the Delhi High Court for further action.
The context of the plea included a demand for a review of policies on maximum passenger capacity and the sale of platform tickets, which had previously been raised in a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) in the Delhi High Court. Following the tragic stampede on February 15, during a time when many were traveling to Prayagraj for the Maha Kumbh, the high court had already mandated the Railways to detail their policy decisions in an affidavit.
