BENGALURU: The RCB victory celebrations in the city were held illegally as no permission was obtained, except intimating local police at 6.30pm on June 3 about possible celebrations in the event of Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) emerging victorious.
Back-to-back posts by Royal Challengers Sports Private Limited (RCSPL) on its social media platforms, inviting fans from dawn to dusk, led to huge gatherings, resulting in the stampede that claimed 11 lives and injured over 60 people at M Chinnaswamy Stadium, the state government contended before the Karnataka High Court on Wednesday.
As no permission was obtained under the Licensing and Controlling of Assemblies and Public Processions (Bengaluru City) Order, 2009, the whole event is illegal and a violation of the order, which is punishable under Section 223(B) of the BNS and Karnataka Police Act, the state argued before court.
As per the tripartite agreement between Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA), Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and RCB, the management of the stadium, including gates and private security, is the responsibility of RCB, which it is not admitting, the state argued.
State blames RCB, DNA, KSCA for parade without nod
The state pointed out the announcement of celebrations without proper planning or adequate security arrangements, poor crowd management measures and gross negligence by RCB, DNA and KSCA.
Countering the submission of the counsels of the four arrested persons -- Nikhil Sosale, marketing and revenue head of RCSPL, Sunil Mathew, director, and Kiran Kumar S, event manager of DNA Networks Private Limited, and Shamant NP Mavinakere, a freelancer with DNA -- that their arrest is illegal is not correct, since all the procedures were followed, Advocate General K Shashikiran Shetty submitted before Justice SR Krishna Kumar, while hearing the petitions filed by the accused. He was assisted by Additional State Public Prosecutor (ASPP) BN Jagadeesha. The order will be pronounced at 2.30pm Thursday.
According to the submission by the AG and ASPP with documents to court, around 6.30pm on June 3, Rakesh, an office staffer at DNA, submitted an intimation letter on behalf of Shubhendu Ghosh, CEO, KSCA, to the Cubbon Park police inspector stating in the event of RCB emerging victorious in the IPL final match, both RCB and DNA intend to hold a victory parade around the stadium, and end it with victory celebrations at the stadium, but no permission was sought. They could have sought permission in advance.
At 7.01am on June 4, RCB, which has 7.5 million followers on X, put out its first post, announcing the victory parade inviting the public and fans to attend it, without obtaining prior approval from the competent authorities. These posts were widely shared across social media and news media platforms, inviting people for the celebrations. They also announced free entry to the stadium, creating an impression that everyone will have an opportunity to witness the celebration.
At 8am, RCB uploaded a second post, reiterating the victory parade announcement. At 8.55am, RCB posted a video clip featuring Virat Kohli with a caption expressing the team’s intention to visit Bengaluru and celebrate its victory with the people of Bengaluru and RCB fans.
At 3.10pm, a huge crowd had gathered but was not allowed to enter the stadium due to which the crowd started getting violent. Only a few gates were partially opened. At 3.14pm, RCB announced for the first time that entry to the stadium would be against limited passes (free passes) which were available on its website, by which time a crowd of 3.5 lakh to 4 lakh had already gathered.
