Delhi, 5 March (H.S.): High Court refuses to hear petition seeking refund to those who could not catch train on the day of stampede at New Delhi Railway Station

New Delhi, March 05 (HS). Delhi High Court has refused to hear a petition seeking refund of tickets of those who could not catch train on the day of recent stampede at New Delhi Railway Station.

A bench headed by Chief Justice DK Upadhyay said that the petitioners have other legal options and the petitioners cannot be made a party to the PIL.

The High Court told the petitioners who got the refund to try legal options to redress their grievances and demand compensation. The court said that the PIL has been filed demanding implementation of some legal provisions on crowd at railway stations and number of passengers in trains. The petitioners who got the refund have nothing to do with this petition. This petition is about personal loss, it cannot be considered a PIL.

On February 13, the High Court had asked the Railways to consider fixing the maximum number of passengers and platform ticket sales. The court directed the Railways to inform about the steps taken to deal with such stampedes. During the hearing, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta on behalf of the Railways had said that this should not be taken in an adverse manner, the Railways is bound to follow the rules. The High Court had issued a notice to the Railways on this petition, the next hearing on which is scheduled for March 26.

Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar