A Division Bench of the Allahabad High Court has asked the authorities to dispose of ex gratia claims of the families of those killed in the 2025 Kumbh Mela stampede within 30 days of their filing.
The Bench of Justice Ajit Kumar and Justice Satya Veer Singh — hearing a petition seeking the payment of ex gratia amount in the stampede case, pending for over one year — issued six-point guidelines for the district authorities to dispose of the claims.
In the Kumbh Mela stampede on January 29, 2025, the state government had confirmed 37 deaths, promising an ex gratia sum of Rs 25 lakh to the kin of each deceased.
A three-member judicial inquiry commission was also formed by the government to probe the reasons behind the stampede.
Sanjay Kumar Sharma had filed a writ petition before the court, seeking directions to the authorities to pay him Rs 25 lakh compensation for his mother’s death in the stampede, along with interest at the rate of 18 per cent per annum till the date of payment.
In its order dated April 13, and uploaded on April 29, the Bench observed, “When there is no denial on the part of the State as well as the Mela administration regarding some loss of life and property in a stampede that happened on the Mauni Amavasya day during Mahakumbh Mela, the term of enquiry becomes absolutely useless and cannot be stretched to mean and to hold that after commission gives finding qua happening of stampede that any payment of compensation would arrive.”
It added that in such, the said inquiry would not probe whether the stampede happened or not.
Story continues below this ad
As mentioned in the High Court order, the Mela Adhikari had sent a letter to the inquiry commission in July 2025, seeking the disposal of the claim representations. However, the commission replied in September that disposal of claims was beyond its scope, and that it may be done at the level of the Mela Adhikari himself.
After hearing the submissions, the bench issued the following guidelines for consideration by the Mela and district administration:
(i) Every claim of compensation has to be made before the district administration and not before the state judicial commission.
(ii) In deciding the matter of claims, it is the District Magistrate (Mela)/the Mela Adhikari, who has to verify the facts as to the loss of death or property of an individual during the stampede.
Story continues below this ad
(iii) The material placed before the Mela Adhikari have to be examined in each individual case while arriving at a finding that such death took place on the fateful day, that is, Mauni Amavasya.
(iv) The records produced, the documents like the inquest report by the police officers and the postmortem report prepared by the Chief Medical Officer/Medical Superintendent of the hospital have to be taken as undisputed material document unless disputed with valid contrary evidence for the purposes of determination of death during the stampede.
(v) The Mela Adhikari has to take a final decision in the matter of claim of compensation within a period of 30 days of its presentation.
(vi) Insofar as the enquiry by the judicial commission is concerned, that would only be relating to points (i) and (ii), and in general for clause (iii), not in matters of individual cases. The depositions made by the dependents of the deceased before the commission will only be with reference to the terms of reference point (iii) and not to determine the individual claim petitions for compensation.
Story continues below this ad
On the writ petition, the court mentioned the inquest report and the autopsy report of the deceased brought on record and were not disputed by placing any cogent material to the contrary.
Listing the next hearing on the matter for May 7, the High Court said in its order, “We direct Mela Adhikari to take a decision within three weeks from today and file a compliance affidavit by the next date fixed.”
