New Delhi: The Delhi High Court on Wednesday pulled up the Centre and the Indian Railways over the stampede that took place at the New Delhi railway station on February 15. A division bench of Chief Justice DK Upadhyay and Justice Tushar Rao Gedela questioned the Indian Railways as to why tickets were sold tickets in large numbers exceeding the capacity of passengers that can be accommodated in a coach.
The observation was made by a division bench of Chief Justice DK Upadhyay and Justice Tushar Rao Gedela while hearing a plea which sought safety measures to avoid stampedes at railway stations in the future, reported Bar and Bench.
"If you fix the number of passengers to be accommodated in a coach then why do you sell, why the number of tickets sold exceed that number? That is a problem," the Court said as reported by the media house.
The court also referred to Section 57 of the Railways Act. Notably, this act states that the Railways should fix the maximum number of passengers which can travel in a compartment.
"If you implement a simple thing in a positive manner in letter and spirit, such a situation can be avoided. On rush days you may increase that number to accommodate the rush depending on exigencies which keep on arriving from time to time. But not fixing the strength to be accommodated in a coach, this provision appears to have been neglected all along," the Court stated as quoted by Bar and Bench.
The PIUL was moved by Arth Vidhi organisation. It was filed through advocate Aditya Trivedi. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta appeared for Indian Railways. he submitted that the Railways was bound to follow the law and that the matter was not taking an adversarial stand.
The next hearing was scheduled for March 26.
The stampede at the New Delhi Railway Station on Saturday night claimed the lives of 18 people. The incident happened around 10 pm when thousands of devotees were heading to Prayagraj for the Maha Kumbh 2025 festival, causing severe overcrowding at the station.
