Plea before the Supreme Court calls for investigation of the incident by an expert panel

A petition has been filed in the Supreme Court seeking the appointment of an expert commission to investigate the stampede in Hathras in which over a hundred attendees of a religious gathering were killed.

The stampede occurred on July 2 in Hathras district in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh.

The complaint states that such incidents are a serious example of irresponsibility, negligence and lack of due diligence towards the public by government authorities and that adequate safety precautions were not taken to prevent or avoid such an accident.

It goes on to say that in such incidents, the simple and poor people suffer the most and become victims.

The motion therefore calls for a court-supervised investigation into the incident by a five-member panel of experts chaired by a retired chief justice.

It also demands that the committee issue guidelines and safety measures that should be taken to avoid such incidents during large public gatherings. It also demands directions from the state governments to avoid such incidents during large public gatherings.

The plea underlines that it is the absolute responsibility of the central and state governments to ensure leadership, administrative efficiency and adequate duty of care towards the people as the common good is of paramount importance to any government.

It highlights the technical errors, omissions and negligence of government agencies that failed to monitor the implementation of security measures.

The aim of the lawsuit is therefore also to initiate legal action against the officials and authorities for their negligent conduct.