The Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh High Court recently dismissed the PIL filed by a practicing lawyer seeking to make public the inquiry report of a three-member committee appointed by the UT government, following the Vaishno Devi deadly stampede in the intervening night of 2021-22.
In the incident, 12 devotees were died and several were left injured.
A bench comprising of Chief Justice N Kotiswar Singh and Justice Waim Sadiq Nargal expressed its satisfaction with the Vaishno Devi Shrine Board’s measures to streamline the yatra and ensure pilgrim safety.
The petitioner contended that the Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Act of 1988 vests administration, management, and governance of the Shrine in a board of not more than ten members, and that the board may appoint a Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and other officers and servants necessary for the efficient discharge of its functions.
The petitioner’s advocate further claimed that the stampede was caused by an unusual number of pilgrims allowed to visit the shrine, as well as mismanagement and a lack of supervision. The chairman of the board formed a high-level committee to investigate the causes and fix responsibility for the incident. However, the committee failed to submit its report within a week, as ordered, and the petitioner filed a representation before the respondent requesting that the report be made public.
Aggrieved, the petitioner filed the current petition in the public interest.
The Shrine Board’s counsel stated that serious efforts were made to provide basic facilities to pilgrims, which resulted in an increase in the number of yatris.
Furthermore, a detailed affidavit was filed indicating the safety measures put in place for effective yatra management from Katra onwards up to the holy cave, which included: Yatra registration, shortening the time of ‘attka aarti’ to accommodate more pilgrims for darshans, deployment of beat officers to avoid crowds, and so on.
The affidavit also detailed the Shrine Board’s short-term and long-term plans. These include slope stabilization, the construction of a Sky Walk and Exit Track, the installation of Announcements/Video Walls, etc.
After reviewing the evidence and the detailed reply affidavit, Justice Nargal wrote for the bench that the Shrine Board has taken all measures, including short-, medium-, and long-term measures, to streamline the yatra, as well as all safety precautions for the pilgrims’ safety. Not only that, but the Board has undertaken several efforts through its Administration and Operations Wing to improve pilgrim management and facilitation, the bench added.
Furthermore, the court closed the PIL after taking on record the assurances of counsel for the Union Territory that appropriate action as warranted by the Inquiry Report would be taken.
