4 months on, no ex-gratia paid to petitioner: HC on Mahakumbh stampede

Prayagraj: A two-judge vacation bench of the Allahabad High Court has come down on the Uttar Pradesh government over a delay in disbursing ex-gratia compensation to the families of those who died in a stampede at the Maha Kumbh in Prayagraj on January 29.

Hearing a writ petition filed by one Uday Pratap Singh, the bench of Justices Saumitra Dayal Singh and Sandeep Jain said once the government had announced compensation, it was its “bounden duty” to ensure timely and dignified payment.

The court also expressed concerns over the body of a stampede victim being handed over to her family without any autopsy or postmortem conducted in a state-run medical college.

“It is alarming that the state authorities appear to have handed over the dead body of the wife of the petitioner to his son on February 5, 2025. Four months have passed and no part of the ex-gratia compensation announced by the state has been offered to the petitioner,” the court said.

The chief standing counsel submitted that since the petitioner has not raised that claim, the stage has not arrived for it to be considered.

The court said, “Prima facie, we find the stand taken to be untenable and smacking of apathy to the plight of the citizen. It was the bounden duty of the State to pay up the compensation to the aggrieved families with utmost grace and dignity.”

“Once the identity of the family of the deceased was known to the State, it appears to be a pretence and an excuse on part of the State to ask the aggrieved family who had come from far-off places to beg for money from the State for the irreversible loss suffered by the petitioner, certainly not on account of any fault committed by the deceased,” the court added.

“The State remains the trustee of its citizens. It is not only obligated to protect their lives and keep them safe from avoidable losses, it remains obligated and duty-bound to offer remedies and care where such unintended loss may be suffered. It is undisputed that the management of the Kumbh Mela was in the hands of the State and no other authority,” the bench said.

In its order passed on Friday, the court directed the state authorities to file an affidavit disclosing full details of the total number of claims received for the payment of ex-gratia compensation; the number of claims decided and pending, together with the dates of receipt of such claims with minimal details of the claimants as also the date of their disposal.

The court directed the impleadment of multiple medical institutions and authorities in Prayagraj as parties to the petition and asked them to file affidavits disclosing all deaths and the details of the medical handling of victims between January 28 and the conclusion of the Maha Kumbh.

According to the facts of the case, the petitioner’s wife was injured in the stampede and was initially believed to be missing. Later, her body was handed over to her son from the mortuary of the Motilal Nehru Medical College in Prayagraj on February 5.

The inquest report and the post-mortem or autopsy report were not prepared at that stage. Since the petitioner is a resident of Karaunda in Bihar’s Kaimur (Bhabhua) district, he took his wife’s body to his home district, where the inquest and autopsy reports were prepared.

The court has fixed July 18 as the next date of hearing in the matter.