Cabinet accepts panel report on B’luru stadium stampede

The Karnataka cabinet on Thursday formally accepted the findings of a judicial commission that investigated the stampede near Chinnaswamy Stadium during the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) victory parade that killed 11 people and injured another 70 last month.

- Arun Dev

The government said it is now preparing to initiate legal and departmental action against those held responsible for the incident, including senior police officials and top organisers of the event.

“The cabinet has decided to accept justice John Michael D'Cunha’s report and take legal action on its basis,” Karnataka law and parliamentary affairs minister HK Patil said.

The cabinet note indicates that the action will be directed at people and private organisations involved in organising the June 4 event, including RCB, the Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA), and DNA Entertainment Networks,

Specific individuals were named in the note for action, including KSCA president Raghuram Bhat, former president A Shankar, former treasurer Jayaram ES, Rajesh Menon of RCB, and Venkata Vardhan of DNA Entertainment Networks, which managed the event.

“Action will be taken,” against them, the cabinet note said, without specifying the precise legal steps that will follow.

The development comes days after the Karnataka government told the high court that its own police were at fault for the stampede, changing its previous position that the IPL franchise RCB was to blame.

The state argued before a bench of justices SG Pandit and TM Nadaf that the police should have formally objected to the event and that they should have refused to provide security for the event since no official permission was granted for it. The police reports to the state government.

On 4 June, following RCB's IPL win, a massive crowd of over 300,000 people gathered near and around Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru for a victory parade and celebration. As per the state, the stadium has a capacity of only 35,000.