Karnataka High Court Takes Suo Motu Cognisance of Stampede at the RCB Victory Celebrations
Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, June 5: The Karnataka High Court has taken suo motu cognisance of the stampede outside the M Chinnaswamy stadium in Bengaluru during the victory celebrations of the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) in the Indian Premier League (IPL) in which at least 11 people were killed and more than 55 others injured on Wednesday and has issued notice to the state government and sought a status report by June 10.
In a hearing on Thursday, a bench of Acting Chief Justice V Kameshwar Rao and Justice CM Joshi said it has taken suo motu cognisance to ascertain whether the tragedy could have been prevented and what measures can be taken to ensure this does not happen in the future.
Eleven people, including a 14-year-old girl, died and 47 were injured in the stampede. The Attorney General of Karnataka highlighted that there was enough police deployment, but the crowd at the stadium on Wednesday was much bigger than expected.
“There was a huge crowd, people not only came from Bengaluru but from around the state and even from outside. 2.5 lakh people came because it was published that it is free entry,” the attorney general (AG) said. When the court asked whether all the casualties occurred at the stadium, the AG said they occurred near the entry gates.
“We are concerned about it as much as anyone else. The first statement given by the chief minister was about compensation to be given and medical treatment to be provided. We have been working… We are open to any suggestions,” he said. The next hearing in the case will be on Tuesday.
The Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar expressed grief over the incident and said the state government was sorry. “Can’t express the pain that I am suffering. Never expected this to happen. The entire state was watching. We are very sorry,” Mr Shivakumar said, adding, “(We) don’t want to politicise this issue. Have to rectify what went wrong. At the same time, all our part of our family. We will join with them in this grief.”
Reacting to allegations by the Opposition that police had not given permission for celebrations, he said, “I don’t want to react to any of these BJP guys. I am only answerable to the people of Karnataka and people of the country. All BJP persons are nonsense… They are also the mastermind of these dirty things.”
The police said the tragedy unfolded near the gates of the stadium, where over 2 lakh fans had gathered to mark RCB’s historic first title win in 18 years. Overcrowding and narrow passageways led to a deadly rush. Most of those injured in the stampede were discharged from hospitals and a few still being treated are out of danger, hospital authorities said on Thursday.
The Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has announced a compensation of ₹10 lakh each to the families of the deceased and free treatment to the injured persons. The RCB also announced financial support of ₹10 lakh each for the eleven families of the Bengaluru stampede victims. RCB also has announced to start a fund named ‘RCB Cares’ to support people who were injured in the stampede.
The State government admitted before the High Court that it did not prepare to handle such a huge crowd of around 2.5 lakh. Advocate G. R. Mohan mentioned before the court that he had sent an email to the court’s registry about the breach of security in the high court building during the victory celebrations in front of Vidhana Soudha.
In a move that has raised eyebrows, Bengaluru City Police have not registered any First Information Report (FIR) regarding the stampede. Instead, the police have filed 11 separate Unnatural Death Reports (UDRs).
The jurisdictional court has to be informed within 24 hours of registration of an FIR. The court has to be updated on all further developments in the investigation in the case. But, in the case of Unnatural Death Report, there is no criminal investigation, and the jurisdictional tehsildar will monitor the probe.
