Mehrangarh temple stampede: Rajasthan HC asks state why it has not made report on tragedy public

Jodhpur: The Rajasthan High Court has asked the state government why it has not made public the Justice Jasraj Chopra Commission report on the 2008 Mehrangarh Temple tragedy even six years after its submission. Issuing notice to the government, a division bench comprising Justices Govind Mathur and Vineet Kumar Mathur directed the Additional Advocate General, P R Singh, to appear in court with the reply on the next hearing. [caption id=“attachment_3845091” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Mehrangarh fort. News18[/caption] The Mehrangarh Dukhantika Parivar Manch had moved the court stating that their pleas to the government to make the report public have have fallen on deaf years and now they are left with no alternative but to seek judicial intervention. Counsel Vijay Mehta for secretary of the manch, Manaram, said that not making the report public has defeated the purpose of setting up the inquiry commission and is injustice with the victims’ families. “More so, the report will not only tell us that who were responsible for this incident but also prepare us about the steps required to be put during such occasions of huge public congregations by throwing light on the shortcomings,” said Mehta. Two hundred and sixteen people had died in this tragedy on the first day of Navratra on 30 September, 2008 at Mehrangarh Fort where they had queued up to pay obeisance to the goddess Chamunda. The then BJP government had constituted a commission headed by Justice Jasraj Chopra to probe the causes of the tragedy and fix responsibility for the accident in October 2008 with the direction to submit the report in three months. The commission got six extensions. The report was finally submitted in May 2011 during the Congress rule and since then, the report has been gathering dust. Justice Chopra, as the chairman of the commission, visited all major religious festivals of the country to see the arrangements there and incorporate suggestions in his report.