Chief Justice of India Chandrachud says Hathras stampede case ordered to be listed for judicial hearing

Chief Justice Chandrachud lists Hathras stampede case for judicial hearing, petition seeks expert committee and safety guidelines for mass gatherings.

Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud, during oral mentioning on July 9, informed in the Supreme Court that the Hathras stampede deaths case has been listed for judicial hearing.

“I had yesterday ordered the Hathras matter to be listed,” the Chief Justice said.

A writ petition was filed in the Supreme Court on July 3 to appoint a five-member expert committee under the supervision of a retired Supreme Court judge to inquire into the Hathras stampede which has seen over 121 deaths.

The petition filed by advocate Vishal Tiwari also asked the court to lay down safety guidelines for mass meetings and public gatherings.

The incident had happened during a prayer meeting held by a self-styled godman, Narayan Saakar Hari, in Hathras district of Uttar Pradesh. The event had drawn a large crowd.

“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 has submitted.

It has urged the court to direct the Uttar Pradesh government to submit a status report and initiate legal action against those who had acted negligently about the safety and crowd control measures.