Jammu, Dec. 20 -- A court in Jammu and Kashmir's Katra on Saturday dismissed a plea seeking registration of an FIR against Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board officials over the death of 35 pilgrims in a landslide on the tracks to the shrine, holding that it was caused by a natural disaster.
It said the order, however, would have no bearing on the inquiry ordered by Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha into the unfortunate incident three days later.
The complainant had alleged that despite weather advisories issued by the Meteorological Centre Srinagar and the Jammu and Kashmir Union Territory Disaster Management Authority, the pilgrimage was not suspended. This amounts to criminal negligence by the shrine board's chief executive officer and o...