RCB moves Karnataka HC to quash criminal case against it over Bengaluru stampede

Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) on Monday approached the Karnataka High Court seeking to quash the criminal case registered against them in connection with the stampede at M. Chinnaswamy Stadium on June 4, which left 11 people dead and several others injured.

The FIR, filed under charges of culpable homicide not amounting to murder and criminal negligence, was registered following a tragic overcrowding incident during a public event held to celebrate RCB's maiden IPL title win.

The event organiser, DNA Entertainment Networks Pvt Ltd, has also filed a separate petition challenging the FIR against it.

Owner of Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB), Royal Challengers Sports Limited (RCSL), has contended that it has been falsely implicated in the case.

Meanwhile, last week, the High Court had granted interim protection to the named KSCA officials, Raghuram Bhat (President), A Shankar (Secretary), and E.S. Jairam (Treasurer), from coercive action by the police until the next hearing. The KSCA management had swiftly moved the high court on Friday after chief minister Siddaramaiah ordered the arrest of its office bearers along with the senior executives of RCB Bengaluru and DNA Entertainment Networks.

In its petition, KSCA said it is only a governing body of cricket in Karnataka with affiliation to the board of control for cricket in India. It runs the M Chinnaswamy stadium in Bengaluru where international tests, one day and T20 cricket matches are conducted. The KSCA has nothing to do with IPL events and Wednesday’s celebrations were organized by RCB franchise and managed by its vendor DNA Entertainment Network. KSCA’s role was limited to making the stadium and its infrastructure available to RCB and DNA.

RCB’s marketing head, Nikhil Sosale, who was among those arrested in connection with the incident, has also moved the court separately to challenge his detention.

In the wake of the incident, the state government handed over the investigation to the Criminal Investigation Department (CID), which has formed a 15-member Special Investigation Team to probe the circumstances and planning failures that led to the stampede.

The government also suspended five police officers, including the city’s police commissioner.

A one-member judicial commission led by retired Karnataka High Court judge Justice John Michael D’Cunha has also been appointed to investigate the matter. The commission has been asked to submit its findings within 30 days.