Review Arrangements In Coordination With Delhi Police Whenever Large Passenger Footfall Is Expected: High Court To Railways

The petitioner approached the High Court seeking a direction to the Respondents to compensate all the victims affected by the stampede at New Delhi Railway Station on February 15, 2025, in which 18 persons lost their lives and 15 persons were injured. The petitioner sought compensation for the mental agony and harassment that victims had to bear because of the mismanagement and carelessness at the helm of the Respondents which included refund of the tickets.

The Single Bench of Justice Amit Mahajan held, “Framing of policy is within the domain of the executive, and this Court does not consider it necessary to direct the framing of a fresh SOP. However, the incident of 15.02.2025 shows that what ultimately matters is how these measures are implemented on the ground before and during each crowded event. There must also be accountability, and a proper record must be maintained of the steps taken in each case.”

“Before every event at which a large passenger footfall is expected, a senior officer nominated by the competent authority of the respondents shall, at least one week before the event, review the arrangements in coordination with the Delhi Police and the other agencies concerned, in terms of the said SOPs and circulars”, it ordered.

Advocate Siddharth Dutta represented the Petitioner while Central Govt Standing Counsel Amit Tiwari represented the Respondent.

Factual Background

The incident dates back to the year 2015 when a stampede occurred at New Delhi Railway Station, in which 18 persons lost their lives, and 15 persons were injured. The petitioners stated that they had booked tickets for Magadh Express from New Delhi to Prayagraj, scheduled to depart at 9:05 PM on February 15, 2025. The petitioners claimed that they reached the station well in time but could not board the train because of the heavy crowd, and they were present at the station when the stampede took place on the foot-over-bridge. The second Petitioner is a person with disability. The petition was initially filed as a Public Interest Litigation, and the Division Bench of the Court directed the petition to be treated as a civil writ petition filed by the petitioners in their individual capacity.

The petitioners approached the High Court aggrieved by the alleged failure of the respondents to manage the crowd at New Delhi Railway Station, as a result of which the petitioners could not board their train and were exposed to the stampede.

Reasoning

On a perusal of the facts of the case, the Bench noted that the Railway Board had issued SOPs and circulars dealing with planning for high-footfall events, holding areas, access control, CCTV monitoring, waiting list limits and passenger information. The Bench noted that a framework already existed.

The Bench found that the additional affidavit largely spoke of steps to be taken in the future. “Apart from the Holding Area / Yatri Suvidha Kendra on the Ajmeri Gate side of New Delhi Railway Station, which, as per Annexure-6 to the additional affidavit, being the RLDA letter dated 12.01.2026, was commissioned on 11.10.2025 with a capacity of about 7,000 passengers, 22 ticket counters, 25 Automatic Ticket Vending Machines, CCTV cameras, luggage scanners, door frame metal detectors and a dedicated control room, the respondents have not shown much on the ground”, it stated.

Noting that the daily footfall at the station went up to 3,29,527 passengers on October 24, 2025, the Bench held that the measures must be monitored and recorded for every crowded event.

The Bench thus passed the following directions:

• The respondents shall strictly implement the SOPs and circulars referred to above, including the Railway Board letters dated 01.05.2025, 30.05.2025, 02.07.2025, 28.11.2025 and 16.12.2025.
• Before every event at which a large passenger footfall is expected, a senior officer nominated by the competent authority of the respondents shall, at least one week before the event, review the arrangements in coordination with the Delhi Police and the other agencies concerned, in terms of the said SOPs and circulars.
• The said officer shall prepare a written report recording the arrangements made and the steps taken for the event.
• The report and the connected records shall be properly maintained and kept ready, so that they can be produced before the appropriate authority or Court if any untoward incident takes place.

Cause Title: Govind Kumar Dhuriya & Ors. v. Union of India & Ors. (Neutral Citation: 2026:DHC:9828)

Appearance

Petitioner: Advocates Siddharth Dutta, Pratyush Singh, Kandarp Raj Dipankar, Pratyksha Priya

Respondent: Central Govt Standing Counsel Amit Tiwari, Advocates Ayushi Srivastava, Arpan Narwal, Kushagra Malik, Ujjwal Tyagi

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