New Delhi, February 19 (HS): The case of stampede that took place at New Delhi Railway Station on Saturday night has reached the Delhi High Court. A bench headed by Chief Justice DK Upadhyay has issued a notice to the Railways while hearing a petition seeking to fix the maximum number of passengers inside the railway compartment and the number of platform tickets to be sold. The next hearing of the case will be on March 26.

The High Court told the Railways to consider fixing the maximum number of passengers and platform tickets to be sold. The court directed the Railways to inform about the steps taken to deal with such stampedes. During the hearing, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta on behalf of the Railways said that it should not be taken in an adverse manner, the Railways is bound to follow the rules.

During the hearing, Mehta said that an unexpected situation had arisen on the day of the accident. He assured the court that the Railways will consider the questions raised in the petition at a high level. Then the court said that the petition is not only related to the recent stampede, but is also related to the maximum number of passengers inside the railway compartment and the legal provisions of platform tickets. The court said that if the legal provisions had been implemented, then perhaps the stampede at New Delhi Railway Station would not have happened.

This petition has been filed by Arth Vidhi, a group of law students. Advocates Aditya Trivedi and Shubhi Pastor, appearing on behalf of the petitioner, said that the railway administration has violated sections 57 and 147 of the Railway Act. Section 57 states that the railway administration has to fix the maximum number of passengers in every railway compartment. Under section 147, there is a provision to provide platform tickets in case a person does not have a passenger ticket. The petition states that the railway should follow these rules for Prayagraj Kumbh, so that the crowd can be controlled.

Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar