Bengaluru stampede: Too early to assume RCB posts on X were primary triggers, says Karnataka High Court

The Karnataka High Court on Monday said that it was too early to assume that posts made by the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) were the sole or primary trigger for the June 4 Chinnaswamy Stadium stampede resulted in the deaths of 11 people, a Bar and Bench report said.

The posts invited the public to join the celebrations planned to mark the victory of the RCB cricket team in the recently-concluded IPL tournament.

Justice SR Krishna Kumar made the observation after Advocate General Shashi Kiran Shetty argued that RCB had recklessly invited the public to freely attend the event at Chinnaswamy Stadium by putting out three posts on X, the report added.

Advocate General's arguments against RCB

The AG said that the posts by RCB were viewed by 13 crore people, and that the RCB had announced that victory celebrations would be held in Bengaluru shortly after it won the tournament in Ahmedabad. All of this was done without taking prior permission from the state, AG Shetty argued.

According to the report, he urged the court not to grant RCB or the event manager, DNA Entertainment Networks Pvt Ltd, any relief against possible arrests.

Earlier in the day, Royal Challengers Sports Limited (RCSL), the owner of RCB, had approached the Karnataka High Court seeking to quash the criminal case filed against it in connection with the stampede. The event organiser had also filed a separate petition challenging the FIR against it.

While listing the matter for June 12, Justice Kumar instructed the state not to arrest anyone till then.

Justice Kumar pointed out that the court had already granted interim relief from arrest to the Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA) officials, and questioned why similar relief could not be granted to RCB and DNA.

While referring to RCB's posts on X, AG Shetty said that allegations against RCB and DNA stand on different footing, Bar and Bench reported.

"Today, we are not in a position to identify or to say that they (RCB/ DNA) are more responsible because of the tweet or government is.. It is premature.. So they are only asking for protection," Justice Kumar said.

The court also set aside the hearing of the petition filed by RCB Marketing head Nikhil Sosale, challenging his arrest, for June 10.

What RCSL's petition said

According to the petition, RCSL claimed that it had clearly communicated on social media that only limited passes were available. The RCSL, in its petition also said that even for free passes, pre-registration was mandatory for entry, and alleged that stadium gates, which were supposed to open at 1.45 pm, were actually opened at 3 pm, causing a crowd surge, a PTI report said.

According to the event management firm, the incident occurred due to failure of crowd management by the police.

(With inputs from agencies)