Bengaluru Stampede: Karnataka HC presses pause on arrests, signals deeper scrutiny of systemic failures

In the aftermath of the tragic June 4 stampede at Bengaluru’s Chinnaswamy Stadium, which left 11 dead and over 50 injured, the Karnataka High Court has stepped in to provide interim legal relief to Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) and their event management partner DNA Entertainment Networks.

As per a report by Bar and Bench, the court has temporarily restrained Bengaluru police from arresting or taking coercive action against officials of the two organizations, pending further investigation.

Justice SR Krishna Kumar, hearing the plea, recorded assurances from the Special Public Prosecutor (SPP) that two of the three FIRs registered in the case would not be pursued further, since their contents overlap with the primary investigation now being handled by the Crime Investigation Department (CID). The Court directed RCB and DNA to fully cooperate with the probe.

This judicial intervention comes amid growing debate over accountability for one of India’s deadliest crowd disasters in recent years. The stampede was sparked by a massive, unregulated turnout of nearly 5 lakh fans hoping to catch a glimpse of their cricketing heroes following RCB’s historic first IPL title in 18 years. The stadium, with a capacity of just 33,000, was vastly underprepared for the scale of the crowd.

The incident triggered a chain of blame with state authorities pointing fingers at the organizers for holding the event without proper intimation, and organizers countering that the State failed to deploy adequate crowd control measures despite being aware of the event’s scale.

Legal proceedings have since escalated. A criminal case was registered against RCB, DNA, and the Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA), which controls use of the stadium. While KSCA has already secured interim relief, officials of RCB and DNA, including RCB’s marketing head Nikhil Sosale, who were briefly detained, have been granted interim bail.

Read More: Karnataka HC grants interim bail to RCB marketing head in stampede case

In a notable development, the High Court itself has launched a suo motu public interest case to examine the wider systemic gaps that enabled the tragedy. A Bench led by Acting Chief Justice V Kameswar Rao has now formally impleaded RCB, DNA, and KSCA as parties in the case and indicated that it may appoint an amicus curiae (friend of the court) to assist in identifying structural failures and suggesting long-term solutions.

The State has submitted a sealed report outlining the causes of the stampede and its proposed preventive framework. The High Court is expected to review this report in detail during the next hearing scheduled for June 23.

Read More: BCCI forms committee after tragic RCB victory stampede in Bengaluru