BENGALURU: The Karnataka High Court on Thursday taking suo motu cognisance of the stampede at Chinnaswamy Stadium during the RCB victory celebrations on June 4, registered a public interest litigation (PIL) into the incident that claimed 11 lives and left several others injured.
A division bench of acting Chief Justice V Kameswar Rao and Justice C M Josh issued notice to the state government.
While initiating the PIL, the court stated that it had taken cognisance of the incident to determine the causes of the tragedy, assess whether it could have been prevented, and identify remedial measures to avoid such incidents in the future.
The court noted that it has also received various representations including emails, over the incident. Accordingly, it has acted on them and requested the Advocate General, K Shashikiran Shetty, to submit the status report in the morning.
The high court took on record the status report submitted by Advocate General Shashikiran Shetty regarding the Chinnaswamy Stadium stampede. The court stated that further directions on the submission of subsequent status reports would be detailed in its written order and adjourned the hearing to June 10.
In his submission, the Advocate General provided details of the incident, including the locations of the fatalities. He informed the court that of the 11 deaths, four occurred at Gate No 7 towards MG Road, three at Gate No 6 on Cubbon Road, and four at another gate near Minsk Square. Among the 56 people injured, 15 have been discharged while six remain hospitalised.
He further stated that a total of 1,600 police personnel were deployed for security, along with three fire tenders, five ambulances, and one water tanker. An estimated 2.5 lakh people gathered around the stadium, with attendees coming from various districts including Uttara Kannada, Kolar, Tumakuru, Yadgir, Mandya, and even from outside the state, such as Coimbatore.
To a query of the court about whether the ambulances were in place, the Advocate General submitted that the ambulances were not sufficient since around 2.5 lakh people gathered around the stadium, as against 35,000, the actual capacity of the stadium.
The Advocate General also informed the court that a magisterial probe has been ordered and the magistrate is issuing notices to all concerned, and also sought information from the public and the inquiry report will be submitted to the government in 15 days.
Notice will be served to RCB, KSCA and Police: Urban DC Jagadeesh
The Magistrate and Bengaluru Urban Deputy Commissioner (DC), Jagadeesh, who has been appointed to probe the victory celebration-turned-tragedy at Chinnaswamy Stadium, has announced that notices will be served to Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB), the Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA), the Police Department, and DNA, the event management firm involved.
These entities will be summoned for questioning, their statements recorded, and a report will be submitted to the government within 15 days.
The DC inspected the site at Chinnaswamy Stadium on Thursday, checking the gates where injuries and deaths were reported. He said, "The government on Wednesday night appointed the committee, and hence I am here. I will also send notice to parents and family members of the injured and deceased to record their statements. We will also give notice to Police and record their statements. The video footage of the incident will also be sourced and checked. Notices to RCB and KSCA will also be served."
Jagadeesh added that he will hear from the public between June 11 and 13 and include their accounts in the final report to be submitted to the government.
“I will also write to the Police Commissioner and ask him to direct officials to come and give statements and also share documents that will help in the probe,” he said, noting that police officials will have to appear before the Magistrate Court on June 13.
The DC noted that police teams were engaged in arrangements at Vidhana Soudha, while the Traffic Department was responsible for managing traffic. There was also crowding at BMRCL stations. All these agencies will be served with notices.
Jagadeesh further added that the KSCA Secretary will also receive a notice and will be asked to provide details regarding any issues or lapses. When asked about shutting down KSCA during the probe due to fears of tampering with CCTV footage, he said, "KSCA is a respected organisation. They will be instructed to protect the CCTV footage and share documents related to the event and other relevant materials."
