- Saturday, February 22, 2025
The ministry stated that sharing such videos could lead to public unrest. The directive targeted multiple accounts, including those of major news organisations
By: India Weekly
THE RAILWAY MINISTRY has instructed X to remove 285 social media links featuring videos of the casualties from the February 15 stampede at New Delhi Railway Station, according to media reports.
At least 18 people were killed during the stampede on platform numbers 14 and 15 at the New Delhi Railway Station, following a surge of passengers waiting to board trains for Prayagraj – where the Maha Kumbh Mela is underway.
The ministry, citing “ethical norms” and the platform’s content policy, issued the notice on February 17, requesting that action be taken within 36 hours, Hindustan Times reported, citing sources.
The notice stated that sharing such videos could lead to public unrest and disrupt railway operations.
The directive also targeted multiple accounts, including those of major news organisations.
The notice stated that the videos contained “sensitive or disturbing media depicting deceased individuals.”
Court on ticket numbers
The Delhi High Court has asked the Railways to examine the fixing of maximum passengers and sale of platform tickets – issues raised in a PIL over the recent stampede at the New Delhi railway station.
A bench of Chief Justice D K Upadhyaya and Justice Tushar Rao Gedela asked the authorities concerned to state in its affidavit, the details of the decision taken by it on these issues.
The court said the legal provisions on the issue of crowd and passenger management appeared to have been “neglected all along”.
“Not fixing the strength to be accommodated in a particular coach, this provision appears to have been neglected all along.. If you fix the number of passengers in each coach then why do the number of tickets sold exceed that number? That’s the problem,” said chief justice Upadhyaya.
The bench therefore ordered, “Let the issues raised in the petition be examined, as suggested by the solicitor general, at the highest level in the Railway Board and thereafter a short affidavit be filed by the respondent giving details of the decisions which might be taken by the Railway Board.”
The counsel for petitioner Arth Vidhi said the tragic incident on the night of February 15 shows “gross mismanagement” and failure of administration.
He claimed despite the provisions of the Railways Act mandating the authorities to specify the maximum number of passengers to be carried in each compartment, over 9,600 tickets were sold, and there was no check on entry of people without platform tickets.
“I am not commenting on infrastructure or policy but if the provisions were complied with, a lot could have been prevented,” said the counsel.
The court observed that the PIL was not confined to the recent incident of stampede as it sought implementation of the existing legal provisions, which if implemented adequately, could avoid such incidents.
Solicitor general Tushar Mehta, in response, said the PIL was not taken in an adversarial manner and the Railways was following the legal mandate.
Mehta assured that the provisions were not neglected and any lacuna would be ironed out.
The matter would come up on March 26.
