Today, On 10th June, In the RCB stampede suo motu case, the Karnataka High Court allowed the Advocate General to file a reply in a sealed cover and scheduled the next hearing for June 12, as several officials remain under scrutiny.
Bengaluru: The Karnataka High Court, addressed a suo motu case concerning the recent stampede near Bengaluru’s Chinnaswamy Stadium, has allowed the State government to submit its response in a sealed envelope.
This unfortunate incident occurred, prior to an event celebrating the Royal Challengers Bangalore’s (RCB) victory in the 2025 IPL final.
The court is investigating the circumstances surrounding this tragic event.
Also Read: CID to Probe Bengaluru Stadium Stampede That Killed 11: Karnataka Govt Tells High Court
A bench consisting of Acting Chief Justice V Kameshwar Rao and Justice C M Joshi is managing the case.
Advocate General Shashi Kiran Shetty appeared before the court, stating,
“Keep it tomorrow we will file reply.”
In response, the Karnataka High Court inquired,
“What is the difficulty?”
To which the Advocate General answered,
“I do not want to put in open court.”
Acknowledging this, the court instructed,
“You put your reply in sealed cover by tomorrow.”
The Advocate General also reminded the court,
“I mentioned about transfer of investigation to CID during the last hearing, it was done.”
He further added,
“Include KSCA also, they are also culprit.”
The court then remarked,
“They need to file report.”
As per the official court order, the Advocate General submitted that he would be filing the State’s response in a sealed cover and sought time until Thursday. The court has allowed him to do so.
After the Attorney General acknowledged a procedural error in notifying the court about the case transfer, the High Court raised nine critical questions for the state:
- Who made the decision to hold the victory celebration, and how was it executed?
- What measures were implemented to manage traffic?
- What actions were taken to control the public or crowd?
- What medical and other facilities were provided at the venue?
- Was there any prior assessment of the expected attendance during the celebration?
- Were injured individuals given immediate medical assistance? If not, why?
- How long did it take to transport the injured to hospitals?
- Has any Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) been established for managing crowds of 50,000 or more at sporting events or similar celebrations?
- Was any permission obtained to organize the event?
In response, the state requested additional time to submit answers and is expected to present its response in a sealed envelope. The Attorney General informed the court that accused individuals are leveraging discrepancies between the investigating and arresting agencies to contest the legality of their arrests and seek relief. He stated that, for this reason, further details cannot be revealed in open court “in the interest of justice.”
During the hearing, it was also revealed that a judicial commission has been formed to look into the stampede incident, and the commission has been given one month to submit its report.
Meanwhile, several police officers have been suspended following the tragedy.
The case is now scheduled for Thursday.
Earlier, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah suspended Bengaluru police commissioner B. Dayananda and several other senior police officials in response to the incident.
This action came amid strong criticism from the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party, which has called for the resignations of Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar.
Earlier, Mr. Shivakumar expressed his emotions regarding the tragedy, stating that Bengaluru has lost its image due to the incident.
Case title: SUO MOTU v/s THE STATE OF KARNATAKA
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