Bengaluru, 1 July

The Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) on Tuesday observed that the Royal Challengers Bengaluru are “prima facie responsible” for the stampede outside Chinnaswamy Stadium on 4 June, which led to the death of 11 people.

Nearly 2.5 lakh fans thronged the MG Road and Cubbon Road areas near the stadium after RCB announced a victory parade from the Vidhana Soudha and a fan engagement programme at the stadium to celebrate the team’s maiden IPL triumph.

“…therefore, prima facie it appears that the RCB is responsible for the gathering of about three to five lakh people. The RCB did not take the appropriate permission or consent from the Police,” the CAT noted.

“Suddenly, they posted on social media platforms and as a result of aforesaid information the public were gathered,” added the CAT in its observation.

The RCB had posted in its social media handles about the parade and the fan engagement on the morning of 4 June, and the Tribunal noted that the police department did not have sufficient time in its hands to manage such a large gathering at such short notice.

“Because of shortage of time, the police was unable to do the appropriate arrangements. Sufficient time was not given to the police. Suddenly, the RCB created the aforesaid type of nuisance without any prior permission.

“Police personnel are also human beings. They are neither God (Bhagwan) nor magician and also not having the magic powers like “Alladdin ka Chirag” which was able to fulfil any wish only by rubbing a finger,” the CAT remarked.

At the time of publishing, the RCB management did not comment on the development.

Earlier, charges were pressed against RCB and the Karnataka State Cricket Association with regard to the tragic events, leading to the resignation of KSCA secretary A Shankar and Treasurer Jayaram.