Vaishno Devi stampede case: High court to hear contempt plea on April 22
At least 12 pilgrims were killed and 16 others injured on the fateful night at the cave shrine at 2.40 am on January 1, 2022. On January 1, 2022, lieutenant governor Manoj Sinha had marked a high-level probe to a three-member panel headed by the then home secretary, Shaleen Kabra.
A division bench of the High Court of J&K and Ladakh, comprising chief justice Tashi Rabstan and Justice MA Chowdhary, will hear a contempt petition on April 22 for final consideration regarding death of 12 pilgrims and injuries to scores in a stampede at Shri Mata Vaishno Devi cave shrine on January 1, 2022.
Adjudicating the matter in the much publicised public interest litigation (PIL) followed by a contempt petition seeking disclosure of the three-member inquiry report, the division bench directed the registry to list the plea for April 22.
On January 1, 2022, lieutenant governor Manoj Sinha had marked a high-level probe to a three-member panel headed by the then home secretary, Shaleen Kabra. It had two other members — then divisional commissioner Raghav Langer and then ADGP Mukesh Singh. The probe report had to be submitted within a week’s time by January 7, 2022.
The inquiry committee was assigned the task to examine in detail the reasons behind the unfortunate stampede which resulted in the death of 12 pilgrims and injuries to several others.
The division bench also observed that a response affidavit by petitioner advocate Sheikh Shakeel Ahmed to the statement of facts furnished before the high court by government of J&K had already been filed on October 21, 2024. The petitioner, in his contempt petition, alleged non-compliance of the HC judgement dated April 26, 2023.
Advocate HA Siddiqui, who appeared for the petitioner, submitted that the division bench had directed the J&K government to take effective steps in furtherance of the recommendations of the three-members panel for ensuring safety of the pilgrims.
He further submitted that the statement of facts filed by the then commissioner secretary to government of J&K, General Administration Department, Sanjeev Verma was not in tune with the judgement passed by the division bench on April 26, 2023.
“The statement of facts is completely silent with regard to the action taken against the delinquent officers on whose negligence 12 innocent devotees lost their lives in the stampede”, submitted advocate Siddiqui.
He also submitted that till date the three-members inquiry committee report has not seen the light of the day and it was suppressed from the division bench and all-out attempt has been made to shield the erring officials.
On April 23 last year, the division bench had closed the PIL asking the authorities to act on the finding of the inquiry report.
At least 12 pilgrims were killed and 16 others injured on the fateful night at the cave shrine at 2.40 am on January 1, 2022.
