Allahabad High Court refuses to further delay compensation claim of Kumbh Mela stampede victim's husband

Prayagraj: The Allahabad High Court has refused to further delay the compensation claim of a Kumbh Mela stampede victim's husband pending the final report of the state's inquiry commission.

The high court has directed the Mela Authority and the commission to finalise the claim moved by the husband of the deceased within 30 days.

Hearing a writ petition filed by Uday Pratap Singh, a division bench comprising Justice Ajit Kumar and Justice Swarupama Chaturvedi warned that non-compliance would compel the court to take a serious view of the matter.

The stampede occurred in the early hours of January 29, 2025, killing at least 30.

Hearing this case on June 6 last year, a vacation bench had come down heavily on the Uttar Pradesh government over its delay in disbursing ex-gratia compensation to the families of those who died in the stampede.

On January 8, 2026, the state government submitted that the Commission of Inquiry had already recorded the petitioner's statement on December 17, 2025 and that the issue of death during the stampede was being examined in coordination with the Mela Authority.

The state contended that the inquiry's timeline had been extended to serve the larger interest of the public as many dependents and guardians of victims were approaching the commission late and their statements were being recorded.

However, the bench was not convinced to delay the payment of compensation any further. It observed, "Although this court on June 6, 2025 passed a detailed order requiring the authorities to file their personal affidavit at this stage, we find it necessary to get the issue of claim of compensation of the petitioner finalised at the earliest." Consequently, the court directed the commission as well as the Mela Authority to finalise the claim of compensation of the petitioner within the next 30 days.

The court directed Additional Advocate General Anoop Trivedi, representing both the state government and the Mela Authority, to file the decision taken by the authorities by the next date of hearing. The court made it clear that if the compliance affidavit is not filed, it will be compelled to take a serious view of the matter.

In its previous detailed order, the court had noted with grave concern that the body of the petitioner's wife, who suffered crush injuries to her rib cage, was handed over from the Motilal Nehru Medical College mortuary without a proper inquest or autopsy report.

The court, in its order dated January 8, has listed this matter for February 18, 2026 for the filing of the compliance affidavit.