Prayagraj, June 8 -- The Allahabad high court has slammed the Uttar Pradesh government over its delay in disbursing ex gratia compensation to the families of those who died in a stampede on the night of Amrit Snan of Mauni Amavasya during the Maha Kumbh Mela in Prayagraj on January 29. Coming down heavily on the state government, a vacation bench of justices Saumitra Dayal Singh and Sandeep Jain on Friday said that once government had announced compensation, it was its "bounden duty" to ensure timely and dignified payment. "Prima facie, we find the stand taken to be untenable and smacking of apathy to the plight of the citizen. It was the bounden duty of the State to pay up the compensation to the aggrieved families with utmost grace and dignity," the court noted. "Once the identity of the family of the deceased was known to the State, it appears to be a pretence and an excuse on part of State to ask aggrieved family who had come from far-off places to beg for money for the irreversible loss suffered by the petitioner, certainly not on account of any fault committed by the deceased," it added. A pre-dawn stampede on the holiest day of the Maha Kumbh on January 29 killed at least 30 people and injured another 60 after surging crowds burst out of police barricades to rush towards a narrow strip of the riverbank, trampling bystanders. Uttar Pradesh authorities said the tragedy occurred as millions of devotees jostled to find a toehold before taking a dip at the holy Sangam nose on the Mauni Amavasya, considered by many as the most auspicious day of the six-week festival. The high court, which was hearing a writ petition filed by one Uday Pratap Singh, also expressed concerns over a body of a stampede victim in Kumbh Mela being handed over to the family without any autopsy by the state run Motilal Nehru Medical College, Prayagraj. "Four months have passed and no part of the ex-gratia compensation announced by the state has been offered to the petitioner," the court noted. According to the petition, the petitioner's wife was injured in the stampede and was initially believed to be missing. Later, her body was handed over to her son from the mortuary of the Motilal Nehru Medical College on February 5. The bench also directed for impleadment of multiple medical institutions and authorities as parties to the petition....