New Delhi Railway Station stampede: Was Railways Act flouted? Delhi HC asks ’why number of tickets sold exceed…’

The Delhi High Court on Wednesday sought a response from the Indian Railways regarding a public interest litigation (PIL) over the recent stampede incident at the New Delhi Railway Station. Eighteen people had died in the incident that took place on February 15.

What did the plea say?

The court noted that the public interest petition raised concerns about the ineffective implementation of provisions in the Railways Act, primarily Sections 57 and 147.

According to news agency ANI, the PIL alleged that the stampede on Platform No. 16 was caused by overcrowding due to multiple long-distance trains arriving and departing simultaneously on the Delhi-Prayagraj route during the Mahakumbh 2025.

It reportedly claimed that the tragedy was a result of administrative negligence and violated the fundamental right to life under Article 21 of the Constitution.

What did the court say? ‘Why number of tickets sold exceed…’

During the hearing of the PIL, the Division Bench of Chief Justice DK Upadhyay and Justice Tushar Rao Gedela questioned the Railways for selling tickets in excess of the number of passengers that can be accommodated in a coach, Bar and Bench reported.

"If you fix the number of passengers to be accommodated in a coach then why do you sell, why the number of tickets sold exceed that number? That is a problem," the court was quoted as saying.

The court referred to Section 57 of the Railways Act. 

"If you implement a simple thing in a positive manner in letter and spirit, such situation can be avoided. On rush days you may increase that number to accommodate. The rush depending on exigencies which keep on arriving from time to time. But not fixing the strength to be accommodated in a coach, this provision appears to have been neglected all along," the court remarked, according to Bar and Bench

The bench of Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyay and Justice Tushar Rao Gedela directed that the Railway Board should undertake this examination. It also asked the Railways to subsequently file a short affidavit detailing the steps to be taken. The next hearing date is March 26.

‘Limit number of passengers’: Sections 57 and 147 violated?

Section 57 specifies that every railway station must limit the number of passengers who can travel in a compartment. These are penal provisions. 

The petition emphasised the critical need for enforcing these sections.

The Solicitor General, representing the Railways, stated that the Administration is not treating this as adversarial litigation, and the concerns raised will be examined by the Railways Board at the highest level.

What are Sections 57 and 147?

The plea moved by Arth Vidhi, a group of lawyers and entrepreneurs through Advocates Aditya Trivedi and Shubhi Pastor, argued that the Railways violated their own legislative duties as outlined in Sections 57 and 147 of the Railways Act, 1989.

Section 57 mandates that every railway administration must fix the maximum number of passengers allowed in each compartment of every type of carriage. Section 147 requires platform tickets for entry into railway stations when a person does not have a valid reservation.

The petition emphasized that due to the ongoing Mahakumbh in Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh, these rules should have been strictly enforced.

It also highlighted that even under normal circumstances, these rules are not enforced, leading to crowded trains and platforms.

(With inputs from news agency ANI)