STAMPEDE AT MATA VAISHNO DEVI BHAWAN

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DB closed the contempt proceedings against Secy. GAD and Ors.

Jammu: The Division Bench of the High Court of J&K and Ladakh at Jammu comprising the Chief Justice Arun Palli and Justice Rajnesh Oswal has closed the Contempt of Court proceedings in the matter pertaining to Stampede at Mata Vaishno Devi Bhawan where more than twelve pilgrims died and several were injured in the night intervening 31st/1st January, 2022 and a three Member Inquiry Committee had been constituted by GAD Secretary to look into the circumstances leading to the unfortunate incident at Holy Bhawan of Mata Vaishno Devi, Katra.

   While closing the Contempt of Court proceedings against Sanjeev Verma(IAS), the then Commissioner/Secretary to Government of J&K, General Administration Department and other alleged Contemnors, the Division Bench headed by the Chief Justice Arun Palli after hearing Advocate H.A. Siddiqui with Advocates Rahul Raina and Supriya Chouhan appearing for the petitioner/whistle blower Sheikh Shakeel Ahmed (Advocate) observed that owing to an unfortunate incident, 12 persons, who were on a pilgrimage, had lost their lives, whereas, several others were injured which led to filing of a petition WP(C) PIL No.12/2022 titled Sheikh Shakeel Ahmed V/s UT of J&K and Ors. and the matter was tried by this Court in public interest, before it was finally disposed of on April 26th, 2023 with the observations that no fruitful purpose would be achieved to keep the present PIL alive and “we deem it appropriate to close the proceedings in the present PIL and before parting, we would like to emphasize that since the Government in GAD has constituted the high-level 03 members committee by virtue of Govt. Order No.01-JK(GAD) of 2022 dated 01-01-2022 to examine in detail, the causes/reasons behind the incident, point out the lapses and fix the responsibilities thereto and to suggest the appropriate SOPs and measures for preventing re-occurrence of such incidents in future and the said Committee was required to submit its report within a week’s time. We have not been apprised about the report of the said Committee. However, the learned counsel for the Union Territory assures this Court that appropriate action as warranted in terms of the report will be taken. In light of the assurance extended by the learned counsel for the Union Territory, necessary actions in the matter be taken in terms of the report submitted by the said Committee.”
The Division Bench headed by the Chief Justice Arun Palli further observed that in response to the notice issued in the Contempt Proceedings, Statement of Facts dated 09-07-2024 came to be filed by Commissioner/Secretary to Government, GAD and in the said statement, the respondents mentioned certain remedial measures to enhance pilgrim centric facilities like RFID tagging and tracking, CCTV/PTZ cameras, Joint Command and Control Room, strengthening of Disaster Management Task Force (DMTF), Fire Safety measures, Slope Stabilization, Pilgrim Facilities and Management at Bhawan, Yatra Queue Management (SKY WALK) at Bhawan, Re-modeling of Parvati Bhawan and Extension/Re-modeling of Atka Area at Bhawan.

    Senior AAG S.S Nanda and Advocate Adarsh Sharma appearing for J&K Government and Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board submitted that the Shrine Board is well-equipped, in fact, has been able to successfully manage the decade-high Yatra footfall of 95.22 lakh pilgrims in the year 2023 and no untoward incident has been reported and Shrine Board is making every possible endeavour to provide the best possible facilities.

        The Division Bench after hearing both the sides at length observed that Counsels for the parties have reached a consensus and the directions issued by this Court vide order dated April 26th, 2023 have been substantially complied with and nothing substantive survives in the matter and the Division Bench disposed of the petition having been rendered infructuous. The Division Bench further observed, if in future, any fresh cause of action arises, the petitioner, if so advised, would be at liberty to avail such other remedies as admissible in law.

       With these observations and directions, the Division Bench comprising the Chief Justice Arun Palli and Justice Rajnesh Oswal closed the Contempt proceedings in the stampede matter of Mata Vaishno Devi Bhawan where 12 Pilgrims lost their lives.