a IN THE HIGH COURT OF ANDHRA PRADESH :: AMARAVATf^ (Special Original Jurisdiction) WEDNESDAY, THE TWELFTH DAY OF FEBRUARY TWO THOUSAND AND TWENTY FIVE ^ PRESENT HONOURABLE THE CHIEF JUSTICE SRI DHIRAJ SINGH THAKU^ AND HONOURABLE SRI JUSTICE RAVI CHEEMALAPATt- WP(PIL) NO: 17 OF 2025 Between: Gudibandi Prabhakar Reddy, S/o Gopi Reddy, Aged 65 years, Occ: Farmer, R/o 1-81, Panduranga puram, Chapirevula Kurnool Aadhar No 730112264176 Bank Account No. 571510110000286, Bank of India, Pandurangapuram ... PETITIONER- AND Union of India, Ministry of Law and Justice, Rep. by Its Secretary Shastri Bhawan, New Delhi 10001 Union of India, Ministry of Home Affairs, Rep. Its Home Secretary, North block. New Delhi 110001. Union of India, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Rep. by Its Secretary, Room no.655, A Wing Shastri Bhavan, New Delhi. 110001 The State of Andhra Pradesh, Rep. by its Chief Secretary to Government, Building, 1®' floor, AP secretariat, Velagupudi, Amaravati Guntur, Andhra Pradesh The State of Andhra Pradesh, Rep. by its Principal Secretary (Home Department), Andhra Pradesh Secretariat, Room No. 136, Ground Floor, Building No.2, Velagapudi, Andhra Pradesh The State of Andhra Pradesh, Rep. by its Secretary (Law and Legislature), Andhra Pradesh Secretariat, Velagapudi, Andhra Pradesh 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. a Y.r 7. The State of Andhra Pradesh, Rep. by its Principal Secretary (Revenue Department) Andhra Pradesh Secretariat, Velagupudi, Andhra Pradesh , 8. The State of Andhra Pradesh, Rep. by its Principal Secretary, (Endowment Department), Andhra Pradesh Secretariat, Velagupudi, Andhra Pradesh 9. The Director General of Police, Police Headquarters, Beside NH-16 Service Road, Mangalagiri Guntur 10. The Commissioner, Endowments Department Gollapudi, Vijayawada, NTR District 11. The District Collector and Magistrate, Tirupati Tirupati District, Andhra Pradesh 12. The Superintendent of Police, Tirupati, Tirupati District, Andhra Pradesh 13. The Tirumala Tirupathi Devasthanams, Administrative Board Rep. By its Chairman, Tirumala, Tirupati District 14. The Tirumala Tirupathi Devasthanams, Its Executive Officer, Tirumala, Tirupati District 15. The Tirumala Tirupathi Devasthanams, Its Joint Executive Officer .Tirumala, Tirupati District 16. The Tirumala Tirupathi Devasthanams. Its Chief Vigilance and Security Officer, Tirumala, Tirupati District 17. The Tahasildar and Executive Magistrate, Tirupati (Urban Mandal), Tirupati 18. The Chief Ministers Office (CMO), Rep. By its Chief Security Officer, Velagapudi, Amaravati, Guntur ... RESPONDENTS Petition under Article 22^ of the Constitution of India praying that in the circumstances stated in the affidavit filed therewith, the High Court be pleased to issue an order, writ or direction, more particularly one in the may nature of WRIT OF MANDAMUS declaring the action of the respondents to the extent of dereliction of duties for occurrence of stampede at Tirumala^^ Temple on 08.01.2025 caused several deaths and serious injuries to public/ Devotees is illegal arbitrary and violation of article 21 of constitution and consequently direct the respondents to constitute a judicial enquiry presided by the present/ former Judge of the High Court and submit report within 30 days to the Hon'ble Governor of AP and to prescribed the accurate protocol for Temple Visits to the devotees to avoid the stamped and chaos in future." lA NO: 1 OF 2025 Petition under Section 151 CPC praying that in the circumstances stated in the affidavit filed in support of the petition, the High Court may be pleased to Direct the respondents to conduct scientific audit for the incident happened by the experts and submit the report to judicial enquiry presided by the present/ former Judge of the High Court within 5 days pending disposal of the above writ petition in the interest of justice. ^ Counsel for the Petitioner: SRI GUNDALA SIVA PRASADA REDDY Counsel for the Respondent Nos.1 to 3:SRI PASALA PONNA RAO, DEPUTY SOLICITOR GENERAL OF INDIA^ Counsel for the Respondent Nos.4 & 18:GP FOR GAD ^ Counsel for the Respondent Nos.5,9 & 12 : GP FOR HOME ^ Counsel for the Respondent No.6: GP FOR LAW AND LEGISLATIVE^ AFFAIRS Counsel for the Respondent Nos.7,11& 17: GP FOR REVENUE Counsel for the Respondent Nos.8 &10: GP FOR EMDOWMENTS^ Counsel for the Respondent Nos.13 to 16: SRI T. PHANIDRA KRISHNA FOR SRI C. SRINIVASA BABA, SC FOR TT The Court made the following: ORDER APHC010033922025 Bench Sr.No:-7 [3483] IN THE HIGH COURT OF ANDHRA PRADESH AT AMARAVATI WP(PIL) NO: 17 of 2025 Gudibandi Prabhakar Reddy ...Petitioner Vs. Union of India and others ...Respondents Advocate for Petitioner: Mr. Gundala Siva Prasada Reddy Advocates for Respondents; Mrs. S. Pranathi, learned Special Government Pleader for State, Mr. T. Phanindhra Krishna appearing vice Mr. C. Srinivasa Baba (SC for T.T.D.) CORAM :THE CHIEF JUSTICE DHIRAJ SINGH THAKUR SRI JUSTICE RAVI CHEEMALAPATI DATE PER DHIRAJ SINGH THAKUR, CJ : The present petition has been filed purportedly in public interest by the petitioner, who seeks a Mandamus to the official respondents to institute a judicial inquiry, to be conducted by a Judge of the High Court, and further that the report be submitted, within thirty days, to his Excellency the Governor of Andhra Pradesh. The inquiry is sought in an unfortunate stampede that occurred at the holy temple at Tirumala on 08.01.2025, leading to death of some devotees and injuries to some others. Learned counsel for the respondents, on the other hand, states that the 2. Government has already issued a Government Order bearing G.O.Ms.No.16, \ 2 HCJ & RCJ WP(PIL)_17_2025 General Administration Department, dated 22.01.2025, appointing Justice M. Satyanarayana Murthy, a retired Judge of the High Court of Andhra Pradesh as a Commission of Inquiry to inquire into the stampede that occurred on 08.01.2025. A perusal of the Government Order reflects the scope of the judicial inquiry, which is as under: “a. Inquire into the circumstances leading to the stampede occurred on 08.01.2025 at Padmavathi Park, Tirupati causing death of six devotees who were waiting to collect tokens for Vaikuntha Ekadasi Festival. b. Identify whether proper arrangements were made for the distribution of tokens and whether there were any shortcomings in the arrangements, if so, to identify the persons responsible for such shortcomings. c. Suggest measures to prevent such incidents in the future. d. Make any other recommendations with respect to the institutional mechanisms to ensure the safety and security of the devotees visiting Tirumala and Tirupati for the Darshan of Lord Venkateswara. ” The inquiry is required to be completed and a report is to be submitted 3. to the Government within a period of six months from the date of assumption of the charge. Even when learned Special Government Pleader had brought to the 4. notice of this Court as also the learned counsel for the petitioner that a Government Order has already been issued in this regard, rendering the present petition infructuous, counsel for the petitioner insisted that the report which is to be submitted by the Commission be directed to be submitted within \ 3 HCJ & RCJ WP(PIL)_17_2025 one month and not within six months, and further that the report be submitted to his Excellency the Governor of Andhra Pradesh. 5. However, both these prayers have no legal basis and are not supported by law. A reading of the Commissions of Inquiry Act, 1952 and in particular Section 3 thereof clearly shows that it vests the Government the discretion not 6. only to appoint a Commission of Inquiry but also to specify the time within which such inquiry is to be conducted and the functions which are to be performed, in the notification so issued. 7. There is no basis propounded by the counsel for the petitioner, which would enable this Court to limit the period to thirty days. Not only this, when the Inquiry is to be conducted in regard to an incident where multiple stake holders were at the helm of affairs or on spot, present on duty, who could be involved, for purposes of pinpointing the shortcomings in the arrangements, or for that matter, for identifying the persons responsible for such shortcomings, the Inquiry Commission would require time to make recommendation s, which are sought by the Government to ensure safety and security of devotees in future. The argument that the report to be submitted by the Inquiry Commission should be submitted only to his Excellency the Governor is also made without any legal basis and is contrary to Section 3(4) of the Commissions of Inquiry 8. Act, 1952. HCJ & RCJ WP(PIL)_17_2025 9. Be that as it may, in view of the fact that a judicial inquiry has already been ordered by the Government, which was the only relief sought for by the petitioner, no further orders are required to be passed in the present writ petition (PIL) which is, accordingly, disposed of. No order as to costs. Pending miscellaneous applications, if any, in this petition shall stand closed. Sd/- M.RAMESH BABU DEPUTY REGISTRAR //TRUE COPY// SECTION OFFICER To, 1. The Secretary Ministry of Law and Justice, Union of India, Shastri Bhawan, New Delhi 10001 2. The Home Secretary, Ministry of Home Affairs, Union of India, North block. New Delhi 110001. 3. The Secretary, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Union of India Room no.655, A Wing Shastri Bhavan, New Delhi. 110001 4. The Chief Secretary to Government, State of Andhra Pradesh, Buit^ing, 1®* floor, AP secretariat, Velagupudi, Amaravati Guntur, Andhra Pradesh 5. The Principal Secretary (Home Department), State of Andhra Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh Secretariat, Room No. 136, Ground Floor, Building No.2, Velagapudi, Andhra Pradesh 6. The Secretary (Law and Legislature), State of Andhra Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh Secretariat, Velagapudi, Andhra Pradesh 7. The Principal Secretary (Revenue Department), State of Andhra Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh Secretariat, Velagupudi, Andhra Pradesh 8. The Principal Secretary, (Endowment Department), State of Andhra Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh Secretariat, Velagupudi, Andhra Pradesff 9. The Director General of Police, Police Headquarters, Beside NH-16 Service Road, Mangalagiri Guntur 10. The Commissioner, Endowments Department Gollapudi, Vijayawada, NTR District ’9 11. The District Collector and Magistrate, Tirupati Tirupati District, Andhra Pradesh 12. The Superintendent of Police, Tirupati, Tirupati District, Andhra Pradesh 13. The Chairman, Tirumala Tirupathi Devasthanams, Administrative Board, Tirumala, Tirupati District 14. The Executive Officer, Tirumala Tirupathi Devasthanams, Tirumala, Tirupati District 15. The Joint Executive Officer, Tirumala Tirupathi Devasthanams, Tirumala, Tirupati District 16. The Chief Vigilance and Security Officer, Tirumala Tirupathi Devasthanams, Tirumala, Tirupati District 17. The Tahasildar and Executive Magistrate, Tirupati (Urban Mandal), Tirupati 18. The Chief Security Officer, Chief Ministers Office (CMO), Velagapudi, Amaravati, Guntur 19. One CC to Sri Gundala Siva Prasada Reddy, Advocate [OPUC] 20. One CC to Sri Pasala Ponna Rao, Deputy Solicitor General of India, High Court of A.P. at Amaravati[OUT] 21. One CC to Sri C. Sinivasa Baba, SC for TTD[OPUC] 22. Two CC’s to GP for GAD, High Court of A.P. at Amaravati[OUT] 23. Two CC’s to GP for Home, High Court of A.P. at Amaravati[OUT] 24. Two CC’s to GP for Law & Legislative affairs , High Court of A.P. at Amaravati[OUT] 25. Two CC’s to GP for Revenue, High Court of A.P. at Amaravati[OUT] 26. Two CC’s to GP for Endowments, High Court of A.P. at Amaravati[OUT] 27. Three CD Copies. ssb . HIGH COURT ssb DATED:12/02/2025 ^ 11, FEB 2025 ^ Current Secuon OESPfCi^^^' m o> ORDER WP(PIL).No.17of 2025 DISPOSING OF THE W.P.(PIL) WITHOUT COSTS