A
catastrophic event that resulted in a considerable loss of approximately 121 lives and many injuries was the stampede
that occurred in Hathras, Uttar Pradesh, in 2024. The root cause of this
incident was the religious satsang of a self proclaimed preacher called Suraj Pal popularly
known as ‘Bhole baba’ who compared himself with god . This big incident happened
during a religious event, it raised important concerns regarding public safety,
crowd control, and the legal obligations of authorities.
The history of this preacher ‘Bhole baba’ popularly known amongst his followers
is quite low profile. Saakar Vishwa Hari Bhole Baba and Baba Narayan Hari are
other names for Bhole Baba. More than twenty years ago, he left the police
force to become a preacher. He is the head of multiple ashrams. The largest
among them is his Mainpuri ashram.
The Hathras police filed a first information report (FIR) suo motu, or on their
own, and it violated several sections of the recently implemented Bharatiya
Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), including sections 105 (culpable homicide not amounting to
murder), 110 (offences on any road, street, thoroughfare, or any open place
etc., causing inconvenience or danger to residents or passers-by), 126(2)
(voluntary obstruction), 223 (voluntarily disobeying an order issued by a
public servant), and 238 (causing disappearance of evidence). But the FIR was
not registered on the name of this preacher, stating the reason for the same the Chief Minister of
the state Yogi Adityanath said The Hathras police filed a first information
report (FIR) suo motu, or on their own, and it violated several sections of the
recently implemented (BNS) as already mentioned above. A preliminary report
stated that the rush happened as followers of the godman attempted to gather
soil around his feet and were pushed by his security detail. The problem was
made worse by the steep slope.
Meanwhile a PIL was also registered before the
Supreme Court seeking the appointment of a five-person expert committee to
conduct an investigation under the direction of a retired Supreme Court judge. The
petitioner has sought for the following in light of this:
"Provide
a writ of mandamus/directions to the Respondents immediately to appoint a
five-member expert committee overseen by a retired Supreme Court justice to
investigate the Hathras Stampede incident that occurred on July 2, 2024.
Additionally, direct the committee to suggest and frame guidelines and safety
measures in the interest of public safety to prevent such incidents in large
public gatherings;
Send a writ
of mandamus, directions
to the Respondents/State Governments to issue directions and guidelines to
prevent Stampede or other incidents for the safety of Public in Organizing any
religious events or other events where large number of public Gathers; Issue
writ of mandamus/directions to the State Governments to Submit the Status of
the Medical Facilities available from Block/Tehsil to District level to deal
with the incidents of Stampede and other.”
To this end,
the petition has beseeched the Court to order the State of Uttar Pradesh to
produce a status report regarding this incident and to file a lawsuit against
the individual, the authorities, and the officials for their careless actions.
With not even a single arrest and absconding of that preacher, this incident comes
out to be the biggest its kind of the incident since 2008. The 2024 stampede in Hathras
underscores the critical need for robust legal and administrative measures to
ensure public safety during large gatherings. By examining the incident through
the lens of existing legal frameworks and past incidents , we can identify key
areas for improvement in the loopholes of the system so that these kind of
horrific incident do not happen in future.
BY- Amrita Sinha
Manipal University Jaipur