BENGALURU: The Karnataka High Court on Thursday ordered the release of four individuals associated with the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) victory celebration event who were arrested following the stampede at Chinnaswamy Stadium on June 4. The tragic incident claimed 11 lives and injured over 50 people.
The four people released are Nikhil Sosale, Marketing and Revenue Head of Royal Challengers Sports Private Limited (RCSPL); Sunil Mathew, Director of DNA Networks Private Limited; Kiran Kumar S, Event Manager at DNA Networks; and Shamant N P Mavinakere, a freelancer linked with DNA.
Justice S R Krishna Kumar passed the order while hearing their bail petitions. However, the court directed the accused to surrender their passports. A detailed order is yet to be released.
The arrests, made on June 6, have drawn criticism from various quarters, and the court’s decision is being seen as a setback to the Bengaluru city police and the state government. Public anger has been high over the handling of the stampede, which happened during celebrations of RCB’s performance in the IPL.
Lawyers representing the arrested argued that the arrests were politically motivated and carried out on the instructions of Chief Minister Siddaramaiah. They also claimed that no proper investigation was conducted and no evidence was presented before arresting the petitioners.
On the other hand, the state government told the court that all legal procedures were followed. It said the accused were informed of the reasons for their arrest as required under Supreme Court guidelines.
Meanwhile, in a related case, the Karnataka government submitted a sealed report to the High Court in response to a suo motu public interest litigation concerning the stampede.
Advocate General K Shashikiran Shetty submitted the sealed cover before a bench led by Acting Chief Justice V Kameswar Rao and Justice C M Joshi. The report was in response to nine questions the court had asked the government regarding the incident.
The court also directed the state to preserve all original communications between government departments and stakeholders. These records must be kept in the custody of the chief secretary.