Bengaluru, 5 June

Karnataka High Court on Thursday directed the state government to file a status report on the stampede outside the cricket stadium here that led to 11 deaths and injuries to over 50 people.

The court, after taking suo motu cognisance of the matter, issued notice to the state, and tasked it to file a detailed status report by 10 June.

A division bench headed by Acting Chief Justice V Kameshwar Rao and Justice CM Joshi directed the court registry to treat the matter as a suo motu public interest litigation petition.

In the stampede during the IPL victory celebration of Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) on 4 June, 11 people died and 56 others were injured.

When the matter came up before the division bench, Advocate General Shashi Kiran Shetty said the announcement of free entry into the stadium led to a massive rush at the gates, triggering stampede.

He made it clear that the government does not intend approaching the matter in an adversarial way. "This is not about blame games. The aim is to understand what went wrong and ensure such tragedies don't recur," he said.

Referring to the deployment of police and security personnel during the city-wide celebrations following RCB's IPL title win, the AG said that the situation, however, turned chaotic outside the Chinnaswamy Stadium, where more than 2.5 lakh people had gathered, far exceeding the venue's capacity of 30,000. "Each person thought just one more was entering the stadium, without realising the overwhelming size of the crowd," he explained.

The bench observed that large public events must be guided by clear Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs). "Ambulances must be available at the venue, and there should be clarity about the nearest hospitals," the Acting Chief Justice noted. Responding to this, the AG said that ambulances were indeed present, but admitted they were not adequate for an emergency of this scale. "The issue was not their absence, but the number," he added.

The AG informed the court that a magisterial inquiry had already commenced and it would be completed within 15 days. All the 11 deaths and the injuries to 56 people occurred at three specific gates out of a total of 21.

The state is treating the matter with utmost seriousness and notices have been served to all relevant parties, including the event management agency. "We are examining potential lapses. No one is being let off," he told the court. Shetty noted that the Chief Minister's first public statement was regarding compensation for victims' families. "This tragedy calls for reviewing SOPs. We are open to suggestions from the public and the court to avoid such events in future," he said.

A public notice has been issued by the inquiry officer, inviting anyone with relevant information or evidence. "Testimonies will be video recorded and submitted to the court. There is full transparency, nothing is being concealed," he assured.

Advocate Lohith, who filed a PIL plea, told the court that the people wanted answers on four specific points. Who authorised the felicitation event? Was it the Karnataka government or the state cricket association? What responsibility does the government have in honouring players who have not represented the state or country? Also, why was the event 'split' between Vidhana Soudha and Chinnaswamy Stadium? and what crowd control and safety arrangements were made?

Advocate GR Mohan, also representing the PIL petitioner, pointed out that the free entry announcement was made by a representative of the IPL franchise. Despite the massive turnout, only three gates were kept open, which led to bottlenecks and chaos.

Senior Advocate Aruna Shyam urged the court to consider appointing an independent agency to ensure impartial inquiry.

At the end of the hearing, the bench said it would specify in its order the details required in the status report and posted the matter for further hearing on 10 June.