Don't blame students for CUSAT Stampede: Kerala High Court

The Kerala High Court on Tuesday that students who organised the tech fest 'DHISHNA at the Cochin University of Science and Technology (CUSAT) on November 25 should not be blamed for the stampede that occurred during the event, which resulted in the death of 4 students and injured 64 others [Alochious Xavier, President of the Kerala Student Union (KSU) v State of Kerala & Ors.]..Justice Devan Ramachandran emphasised that there should not be any blame game involving the students and pointed out that it could have been a failure of the system that led to the events."I don’t want any blame game on any students, it will leave a big impact on them. The families are robbed of their existence. No students should be scarred. No students who organized the event should be blamed. The minds of the young children should not be subjected to a blame game. The young people have to live...Unfortunately, we react after the incident. Accidents don’t happen on purpose. Fingers point to some system failure. I want to know what enquiries are going on," Justice Ramachandran orally observed.The Court then directed the Additional Advocate General (Additional AG) and Government pleader to get instructions on the nature of inquiries that have already been initiated by the State government. The Court lamented that the unprecedented incident involving the loss of brilliant lives, potentially students, who could have been valuable assets to the nation."The incident in question has perhaps never happened in Kerala before, and it is shocking because of the horrible aftermath it has left. Brilliant lives, who could have been treasures to the nation, were lost; and obviously, answers will have to be found, so that solutions can then be put in place, merely not as a Pavlovian reaction, but with certainty," order said.The Court emphasized the need for a thorough investigation into the authorities' responsibilities, as well as the role of the police and security personnel to prevent future accidents."The role of the police and Security Personnel also will, therefore, have to be looked into, not for this case alone, but as a guideline for the future; lest such accidents happen again, which is unthinkable," further said the order..The High Court was considering a plea seeking judicial inquiry into the stampede. The plea was filed by Alochious Xavier, the President of the Kerala Student Union (KSU) which is the student wing of Congress Party in the State..Xavier claimed that he visited the scene of the occurrence and gathered first-hand information from the students about what went down on the fateful day.He alleged that the whole mishap happened due to the inaction of university authorities including the vice chancellor, registrar and principal of CUSAT..The stampede occurred at the amphitheater on the campus, which revealed lapses in crowd management and safety measures, Xavier argued.The petition criticized the single entry and exit point at the theatre as well as the inadequate monitoring of the amphitheater's designated space, and also accused CUSAT’s registrar for allegedly neglecting security requests..It was submitted that even though the State Police lodged a first information report (FIR), the investigation is biased due to the political influences of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPI(M)) led Left Democratic Front (LDF) coalition, as their nominees are the office bearers of both Syndicate and Senate of the University.In this regard, the plea highlighted the failure to record statements from key respondents and emphasized the need for a detailed investigation..Xavier further claimed that he submitted representation on the issue to the Vice Chancellor of CUSAT, requesting him to prepare and submit a report to the State government or the State Legislature for the constitution of an independent judicial commission. However, he did not receive any response..This prompted him to approach the High Court with the present plea, wherein the Court has been urged to direct the appropriate authorities to take steps to appoint an impartial judicial commission, if necessary..The petition will be considered next on December 14. .The petition was filed through advocates Rebin Vincent Gralan, Dinesh G Warrior and Vimal Vijay..[Read Order]