The Supreme Court of India, on Friday (February 28), dismissed a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) concerning the tragic stampede at the New Delhi Railway Station on February 15, which resulted in multiple deaths. The PIL, filed by Anand Legal Trust, alleged that the actual number of fatalities had not been fully accounted for and that many affected families had yet to receive compensation.

A bench comprising Justice BR Gavai and Justice PK Mishra refused to entertain the plea, directing the petitioner to approach the High Court for further recourse.

The petitioner argued that

The petitioner argued that "incidents of stampede have become recurrent," citing that the Railways had issued notices to individuals asking them to remove videos of the incident from social media. Furthermore, the petitioner claimed that "200 people have died," yet official records accounted for far fewer.

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The bench responded that affected families could seek legal remedies if they had not received ex-gratia payments.

"If any person has died and their family member has not received compensation, they can approach the Court and state that their name is missing from the list,"Justice Mishra remarked.

The Court further inquired whether the petitioner had specific instances to present where compensation had been denied, stating:

"That 200 died but only 50 have been accounted for... do you have any concrete examples to substantiate this?"

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The petitioner insisted that eyewitness testimonies and video footage pointed to a higher death toll than what was officially reported. However, the Supreme Court expressed its reluctance to intervene at this stage, emphasizing that affected families could take up individual grievances with the appropriate authorities.

Meanwhile, the Delhi High Court has sought responses from the Union Government and the Indian Railways regarding measures to prevent similar stampedes in the future. The plea before the High Court aims to ensure better crowd management and enhanced safety protocols at railway stations.

Case Name: Anand Legal Aid Forum Trust vs Union of India & Ors.

Case Number: W.P.(C) No. 175/2025