Himachal HC upholds charges against professors in Beas river tragedy that killed 25 students

Shimla (Himachal Pradesh) [India], August 8 (ANI): The Himachal Pradesh High Court on Friday refused to discharge three faculty members of the VNR Vignana Jyothi Institute of Engineering and Technology, Hyderabad, who are facing charges culpable negligence under Sections 336, 304-A read with Section 34 of the IPC, in connection with the 2014 Beas River tragedy that claimed the lives of 25 students and a tour manager near Thalout in Mandi district.
Justice Virender Singh, while dismissing the revision plea (Cr. Revision No. 284 of 2024) filed by professors A. Aditya, C. Kiran, and Sumabala, upheld the trial court's February 8, 2024, order, which had denied their discharge under Section 258 of the CrPC.
The court noted that the petitioners, who were acting as tour guardians, had stopped the bus during a college trip and allowed students to venture down to the riverbed for photographs, despite being aware of the dangerous nature of mountain rivers and the possibility of sudden water surges from dam releases.
"Faculty members were knowing that by not stopping the students from going to the river bed, they were likely to die, which is clear from the fact that while going into the river bed, the faculty member had not taken their own child along," the judgment stated.
"This Court finds that the negligence was so gross that it is a criminal negligence punishable under Section 304 IPC," the Judge added, while rejecting the argument that Section 34 IPC (common intention) was not applicable.
On June 8, 2014, 48 engineering students and faculty members were travelling from Shimla to Manali when they stopped near the Beas river at Shala-Nala for a photo session. With the river level appearing low, many students moved into the dry riverbed. Suddenly, water was released from the Larji Dam upstream without any prior hooter or warning system in place, sweeping away 25 students and a tour manager.
The bodies were recovered over the following weeks from downstream, including Pandoh Dam. The postmortem reports confirmed drowning as the cause of death.
The High Court also referenced the earlier findings, which indicted the Himachal Pradesh State Electricity Board (HPSEB) and Larji Dam officials. According to the police investigation, "No proper mechanism of sounding a hooter was in place. Out of three hooters, one was non-functional, and the others were not manned. No vehicle or guard was deployed to warn the public. There were no danger boards. It was sheer negligence."
Despite receiving instructions from the SLDC, Shimla, to reduce electricity generation before the incident, the Larji Dam authorities failed to release water in a regulated or cautious manner. Discharge increased from 20 to 450 cumecs within an hour, the court noted.
The faculty members contended that they were not directly responsible for the water release and had not committed any criminal act under Sections 336 or 304-A IPC. However, the High Court dismissed this argument, ruling: "Their collective conduct of permitting students to go into a potentially hazardous river zone, despite being aware of the dangers, clearly reflects shared culpability."
The court cited precedents, including Sushil Ansal vs State and S.N. Hussain vs State of Andhra Pradesh, to reinforce that gross negligence which endangers life constitutes criminal liability.
With the High Court affirming the trial court's stand, the case will now proceed at the Mandi Court against all the accused, including six dam officials and the three faculty members.
This order marks a significant development in the long-pending case and reinforces the principle of legal accountability for duty of care, particularly in educational and public safety contexts. (ANI)