The Supreme Court on Friday turned away a petitioner who, citing video footage and visuals related to the February 15 night stampede at the New Delhi railway station, claimed that the death toll had been suppressed by the authorities, thereby, denying ex-gratia to families of many victims. 
Refusing to issue directions to the authorities on crowd management, a Bench comprising Justice BR Gavai and Justice PK Mishra asked the petitioner to present figures to support the claim that not all deaths had been accounted for.
Have you come across any incident where ex-gratia has not been paid to family members of a dead person, the court asked petitioner Anand Legal Aid Forum Trust.
The court asked the petitioner if it had figures to support it claims, &ldquo;so that we can appreciate what you are saying... that 200 died but only 50 have been accounted for&rdquo;.
Asking the petitioner to approach the Delhi High Court, which is hearing a related matter, Justice Gavai and Justice Mishra said the affected persons can approach the court in case of denial of ex-gratia.
&ldquo;If any person has died and their family member has not received ex-gratia, the kin can approach the court and say that our name is not there,&rdquo; said the court.
Last week, the Delhi High Court issued notice to the Central government and the Ministry of Railways over a petition seeking effective steps to prevent stampedes at railway stations.
Earlier, the petitioner trust sought proper implementation of the National Disaster Management Act and rules for crowd management.
&ldquo;Incidents of stampede have become recurrent...Railways has issued notices to people to remove videos that are being uploaded...200 people have died,&rdquo; the petitioner submitted.
The petitioner claimed that there were videos and accounts of eye-witnesses which indicated that the death toll was higher.
The stampede at the station claimed at least 18 lives, as per the official figure. The Railways announced a compensation of ₹10 lakh for the families of the deceased, ₹2.5 lakh for the seriously injured passengers and ₹1 lakh for those who suffered minor injuries in the stampede.
The incident was triggered due to the huge passenger buildup on platforms from where trains were scheduled to leave for Maha Kumbh at Prayagraj in Uttar Pradesh.
A two-member committee was also set up to enquire into the stampede. The committee, comprising Narsingh Deo, PCCM/Northern Railway, and Pankaj Gangwar, PCSC Northern Railway, secured the video footages of platforms 14 and 15 of the station where the massive crowd of passengers had gathered just before the tragedy.
&mdash;IANS

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February 28, 2025 | 15:32 IST