Shimla — In a major development in the long-pending Beas River tragedy case, the Himachal Pradesh High Court on Friday upheld criminal negligence charges against three faculty members of the VNR Vignana Jyothi Institute of Engineering and Technology, Hyderabad, in connection with the 2014 disaster that claimed 26 lives — including 25 students and a tour manager — in Mandi district.
Justice Virender Singh dismissed the revision plea filed by professors A. Aditya, C. Kiran, and Sumabala (Cr. Revision No. 284 of 2024), affirming the trial court’s February 8, 2024, decision to reject their discharge plea under Section 258 of the CrPC. The court found sufficient grounds to proceed under Sections 336, 304-A read with Section 34 IPC, ruling that their negligence amounted to culpable behaviour.
According to the judgment, the professors — who were tour guardians — stopped the bus during a college trip near Thalout, allowing students to enter the dry Beas riverbed for photographs despite being aware of the inherent dangers of sudden water surges from dam releases. The court noted that the faculty members’ decision was so reckless that they did not even allow their own child to go down, underlining their awareness of the risk.
On June 8, 2014, 48 engineering students and staff were travelling from Shimla to Manali when they halted at Shala-Nala. Without warning, water was released from the Larji Dam upstream, increasing discharge from 20 to 450 cumecs in under an hour. The sudden surge swept away the group, with bodies later recovered downstream, including at Pandoh Dam. Postmortems confirmed drowning.
Investigations revealed alarming lapses: only one of three dam hooters worked, none were manned, there were no danger signs, no guards, and no vehicles to alert the public. Despite SLDC Shimla’s instructions to regulate discharge, dam authorities failed to act cautiously.
Rejecting the defence’s claim of non-involvement in the water release, the court held that allowing students into a known hazard zone constituted shared culpability under Section 34 IPC. Citing precedents, Justice Singh emphasised that gross negligence endangering life is a criminal offence.
The case will now proceed at the Mandi Court against all accused, including the six dam officials and the three faculty members, marking a significant step toward accountability in one of Himachal’s worst river tragedies.
