Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud mentioned orally on July 9 in the Supreme Court that the Hathras stampede deaths case has been scheduled for judicial hearing.
“I had yesterday ordered the Hathras matter to be listed,” Chandrachud stated.
On July 3, a writ petition was submitted to the Supreme Court requesting the appointment of a five-member expert committee, overseen by a retired Supreme Court judge, to investigate the Hathras stampede, which resulted in over 121 deaths.
“Several questions brew up from this horrific incident of stampede thereby questioning the duty and lapse of State Government and Municipal Corporations. Apart from the failure of maintaining and administering the supervision, the authorities have also failed in controlling the crowd gathered for the event,” the petition stated.
The petition has urged the court to instruct the Uttar Pradesh government to provide a status report and take legal action against those who were negligent regarding safety and crowd control measures.
Several flaws were discovered in the way the entire religious celebration in Hathras was planned, resulting in the terrible stampede that killed 121 people and injured several others. From no entry-exit points to a lack of emergency routes, Uttar Pradesh Police sources have identified serious blunders that contributed to the disaster, even as VVIP arrangements were made for religious preacher ‘Bhole Baba’.