Patna, Nov. 22: The public hearing of the eyewitnesses of the stampede at Adalat Ghat turned out to be a closed-door affair today.

Instead of hearing the eyewitness at the courtroom on the first-floor of the collectorate building, principal secretary, home, Amir Subhani chose to interact with them one by one in a closed room at the district magistrate’s office. Total 22 people, including the relatives of the 17 victims of the stampede on Monday evening, turned up for the public hearing.

The state government had issued an advertisement stating that a public hearing in connection with the probe into the stampede at Adalat Ghat would be conducted. But Subhani asked the reporters to move out of the room in which he was recording the statements of the eyewitnesses. Moreover, he recorded the statement of the witnesses one-by-one. When he was recording the statement of an eyewitness, other witnesses were kept out of the room.

Terming the act of the principal secretary against the very spirit of public hearing, senior high court advocate Yogesh Chandra Verma said: “No one can be asked to move away when the statement of any witness is being recorded during a public hearing.” Legally speaking, Verma added, the officer’s move was against the concept of public hearing.

The first eyewitness heard at the public hearing was Sunita Devi (38), a resident of Kadamkuan, who lost her sister-in-law Sushila Devi (32) in the stampede.

Before she could say anything, Subhani said: “I am going to ask you a few questions, you just be relaxed and think twice before saying anything. Speak slowly because I shall be writing down your statement. Once you are finished, I shall show you your statement. After reading it, put your signature below the statement. I hope you must be educated enough to read and give signature.”

Sunita said: “Yes, I know how to put signature and can read as well.”

That was the only conversation that could be heard in the closed room because Subhani asked everyone present in the room to leave after that.

At the end of the day, Subhani said: “We will get a lot of help after hearing the statements of the eyewitnesses. It will continue tomorrow as well. I will submit the report to the state government.”

Leader of the Opposition in the Assembly Abdul Bari Siddiqui demanded a judicial probe into the incident by a sitting high court judge.