Sanjay Gupta & Ors. V. State Of Uttar Pradesh Through Its Chief Secretary & Ors.| Writ Petition (Civil) NO. 338 OF 2006
Nearly after 16 years of the Meerut fire tragedy, the Supreme Court finally ruled in favour of the victims by holding that they are entitled to be paid compensation from the state as well the organisers of the Mrinal Events & Expositions’ India Brand Consumer Show in Victoria Park.
The Meerut fire catastrophe occurred on 10 April 2006, leading to the loss of 65 lives and severe burn injuries to more than 161 people. The appellant had lost five members of his family in the said incident, and he filed a case on the grounds that the State’s probe into the tragedy was improperly conducted.
The State of Uttar Pradesh had appointed retired Hon’ble Mr. Justice O.P. Garg (Retired) to investigate the incident in terms of the provisions of the Commission of Inquiry Act, 1952, keeping four terms of reference:
“(1) To find out the facts, causes on account of which the aforesaid accident occurred;
(2) To decide the ways and means to keep up the situation in control;
(3) In respect of the aforesaid occurrence, determination of liability and the extent thereof;
(4) Measures to be adopted to avoid the occurrence of such an incident in future.”
The report submitted by this Commission in 2007, was rejected by the Top Court in 2014. The Court further appointed a one-man Commission under the chairmanship of Hon’ble Mr. Justice S.B. Sinha (Retired). The report submitted by Justice Sinha determined the liability of the State and the organizers as 40% and 60% respectively, an amount of Rs.30 lakhs deposited by the Organizers in terms of the order dated July 31, 2014. The same was sent to the District Judge, Meerut for pro-rata distribution amongst the victims. The findings included inter alia that the organizers deliberately and intentionally suppressed material facts before the concerned authorities while applying for a grant of permissions.
The Commission submitted its report on 5 June 2007, but was found to be unsustainable by the Top Court on July 31, 2014. While rejecting the proceedings conducted by the Commission under the Inquiry Act, the Court appointed Hon’ble Mr. Justice S.B. Sinha (Retired) as a one-man Commission as it was found that the Organizers were summoned after examination of almost 45 witnesses and were not afforded the opportunity of cross-examination. Pursuant to the submission of the report by the Committee on June 29, 2015, wherein the Commission determined the liability of the State and the organizers as 40% and 60% respectively, an amount of Rs.30 lakhs deposited by the Organizers in terms of the order dated July 31, 2014.
Further, rubbishing the organiser’s attempt to palm off the blame on the contractor, the bench observed that the people who visited the place on the day of tragedy have no privity of contract with the contractor and it was the responsibility of the organisers to have ensured the safety of the visitors.
The court on 13 April 2020 asked the Allahabad High Court Chief Justice to nominate within two weeks a District Judge or Additional District Judge to work on a day to day basis for determining the compensation payable to the families of the victims of the fire that broke out during a consumer fair in Meerut in 2006.
