BENGALURU: The Karnataka government has constituted a 11-member house committee under the chairmanship of Home Minister Dr G Parameshwara to review the Crowd Control (Managing Crowd at Events and Place of Gathering) Bill, 2025. The committee has been told to submit its report within three months.
The other members of the committee are Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister HK Patil, Congress MLAs Rizwan Arshad, Srinivasaiah N, Ravishankar D, Srinivas V Mane, Prakash K Koliwad, and HD Thammaiah, BJP MLAs V Sunil Kumar and SR Vishwanath, and JDS MLA GD Harish Gowda.
The Bill was introduced by the State Government following the June 4 stampede outside the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in which 11 people were killed. The government was under attack from both the opposition and the public after the stampede.
When the Bill was tabled during the monsoon session of the legislature, last month there was a demand from several legislators to refer it to a house committee for a detailed discussion and scrutiny.
The Bill is aimed at effectively controlling crowds and managing mass gatherings and preventing unlawful gatherings.
The Bill had proposed that the organisers have to execute an indemnity bond of Rs 1 crore at the time of obtaining permission. Unpermitted events or functions are punishable with imprisonment for a minimum of three years and up to seven years, with a fine of up to Rs 1 crore or both.
The proposed Bill also defined “crowd,” which means a group of 5,000 people or more gathered for a common purpose or intent. Organisers have to obtain permission from the jurisdictional authority. When the crowd is less than 7,000, the officer in charge of the police station may grant permission.
The Bill also specified that one has to take permission seven days prior to the protest.
The Opposition MLAs had then opined that the Bill could restrict protests and affect cultural and religious events.