The Delhi High Court on Wednesday issued notice to the Central government, Indian Railways and the Railway Board on a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) seeking safety measures to prevent stampedes, in the wake of the recent stampede at New Delhi Railway Station.
The Division Bench of Chief Justice DK Upadhyay and Justice Tushar Rao Gedela directed the respondents to file an affidavit, giving details about the steps taken for the safety of passengers by the Railway Board.
The High Court then listed the matter for further hearing on March 26.
The High Court came down heavily on the Railways for selling tickets in excess of the number of passengers who could be accommodated in a coach.
Referring to Section 57 of the Railways Act which mandated the administration to fix the maximum number of passengers in a compartment, it observed that when the Railways could fix the number of passengers to be accommodated in a coach, it saw no reason why tickets were sold exceeding that number.
The Bench gave a few suggestions to the government enterprise to avoid such situations in future, saying that implementing simple things in a positive manner in the letter and spirit, would prevent such situations in future.
The High Court said on rush days and depending on exigencies arriving from time to time, the Railways may increase the passenger number to accommodate the rush.
It further said that in light of the Railways not fixing the strength to be accommodated in a coach, Section 57 of the Railways Act appeared to have been neglected all along.
The Bench made the observations on a petition filed by Arth Vidhi, a group of entrepreneurs, lawyers and other professionals, in the backdrop of the recent stampede, which claimed at least 18 lives at the New Delhi Railway Station and left scores injured.
The station was overcrowded due to the rush of people going to take part in the Maha Kumbh, the largest religious congregation in the world, currently going on in Prayagraj town of Uttar Pradesh.
Filed through Advocate Aditya Trivedi, the petition contended that various legal provisions and rules under the Railways Act should be implemented properly to prevent such incidents in future.
The Counsel appearing for the petitioner submitted that the plea highlighted the gross negligence, mismanagement and complete failure of the administration, which caused the stampede on February 15, 2025.
The High Court observed that since lakhs of people were at the station that day, it may not be possible to control that kind of crowd infrastructurally.
Noting that this was not a railway accident where negligence could be claimed, the Bench said subsequent measures have been taken to avoid such incidents in future.
Referring to Sections 57 and 157 of the Railways Act, the Counsel argued that airports have mechanisms to know how many people were present at a given time, while the Indian Railways did not have any such mechanism. There was no notification or circular for unreserved class. If the Railways was not following its own rules, how can security be expected from them, he added.
He further pointed out that a lot of people roamed the railway stations without platform ticket and train ticket. There was no compliance with the Railways Circular requiring a platform ticket. If the Railways had complied with its own rules, a lot of things could have been prevented. The petitioner was not commenting on infrastructure or any policy. It has come in the larger public interest.
Chief Justice Upadhyay said that there should be no opposition to the PIL.
Representing the Indian Railways, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta submitted that he was not taking an adversarial stand.
Going through the prayers in the petition, SG Mehta said the Railways would look into the issues raised.
The petition sought directions for the Railways to frame guidelines regarding the issuance of general class, which travelled on unreserved tickets.
SG Mehta apprised the Bench that the Indian Railways has already issued a circular in this regard but some poor people still came and sit on the stations. Referring to country-specific issues, the SG said during rush hours, when there was a crowd generally not anticipated, such incidents took place. The Railway would look into this aspect.
The plea further sought compensation for the victims.
The SG said that compensation has already been given. He added that infrastructure or implementation of roles in something unprecedented had its own limitations.
Regarding the non-implementation of rules, the law officer said the Railway Board would look into the highlighted issues.