Mahakumbh Stampede / SC refuses to hear Maha Kumbh stampede case says go to HC

The Supreme Court heard the Maha Kumbh stampede case on Monday. The CJI refused to hear the case, calling the incident 'unfortunate'. The court directed the petitioner to go to the Allahabad High Court. The petition demanded safety of the devotees and action against those responsible.

Vikrant Shekhawat : Feb 03, 2025, 01:04 PM
Mahakumbh Stampede: The stampede incident in Mahakumbh not only created an atmosphere of mourning across the country, but the judicial process related to it is also attracting the attention of the whole country. A hearing was held in the Supreme Court on Monday regarding this incident, in which a bench of Chief Justice of India (CJI) Sanjeev Khanna and Justice PV Sanjay Kumar termed the incident as 'unfortunate'. However, the court refused to hear the matter and advised the petitioner to go to the High Court.

The PIL filed in the Supreme Court expressed concern over the loss of life and the safety of the devotees in the stampede during the Mahakumbh. The petition sought a status report on this accident, mentioning the death of more than 30 devotees in the stampede on January 29. Advocate Vishal Tiwari had filed this petition and demanded strict action against the officials responsible in this incident. Along with this, it was also proposed in the petition that all the states should open facilitation centers in the fair, so that non-Hindi speaking devotees do not face any problem.

Supreme Court's stance: Hope for justice from the High Court

The Supreme Court refused to intervene in the matter and asked the petitioner to take the matter to the Allahabad High Court. CJI Sanjeev Khanna described the incident as extremely sad and said, "This is a serious matter and we are very concerned about it, but a petition should be filed in the High Court." Despite his direction, he gave the petitioner freedom to proceed in the matter.

This decision came when UP government's senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi told the court that a judicial inquiry is going on in the incident and a commission has also been formed on it. Apart from this, he also told that a petition has already been filed in the High Court on this issue. The Supreme Court, keeping in mind all the facts, suggested the petitioner to go to the High Court and dismissed the petition.

Judicial inquiry and administrative steps

The Maha Kumbh stampede incident has raised many questions on the administrative system. The huge loss of life in this incident exposed the lack of security arrangements. In this context, the petition also said that such stampede incidents are happening frequently, and hence strict measures need to be taken to prevent it. Along with this, the need for new rules to ensure the safety of devotees in the fair was also emphasized.

The Uttar Pradesh government has ordered a judicial inquiry after this incident, and a judicial commission has been formed, which will investigate the matter thoroughly. Action can be taken against the responsible officials based on the report of this commission.

Way forward: What will change?

Religious events like Maha Kumbh gather millions of people, and their security arrangements are of utmost importance. The decisions of the Supreme Court and other judicial bodies indicate that strict measures are needed to ensure the safety of devotees during big events in the country. This incident may prove to be an important step towards improving security protocols and arrangements in future.

Although the judicial process related to this incident is still going on, the possibility of getting justice on this can be found in the High Court. This will ensure that concrete steps are taken to avoid such incidents in future and appropriate action is taken against those responsible.