The Karnataka High Court has directed the state government to make public its status report on Bengaluru’s IPL stampede outside the M Chinnaswamy Stadium during the celebrations for the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) team’s first Indian Premier League (IPL) championship. Eleven people were killed and over 50 more were wounded in this terrible incident.
The Karnataka High Court strongly stated on Monday, as reported by ESPNcricinfo, that there were no legal grounds for such secrecy, even though the state government had tried to keep the report confidential, stressing that the data was merely facts as perceived by the government.
Moreover, the Karnataka High Court has ordered the state administration to send the reports to other parties engaged in the case, which comprises the RCB franchise, the Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA), and DNA Entertainment Networks, the event partner for the Red and Gold franchise.
The franchise is now waiting for more information to come from a thorough CID investigation. The team and senior officials from DNA have given their statements over the last month. Still, a date for the judgment’s announcement has not yet been revealed. On July 1, a two-member bench of the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT), a quasi-judicial organization resolving problems pertaining to government and public employees, made important comments regarding the crowd outside the team’s home base.
The Karnataka High Court found the franchise was very important in drawing a crowd estimated between three to five lakhs to the location of the celebratory victory parade, which the team had announced across all their social media channels shortly after their IPL defeat of Punjab Kings (PBKS) on June 3, so concluding an 18-year wait for the cup.
Following a complaint submitted by Vikash Kumar, the Inspector General and Additional Commissioner of Police for Bengaluru (West), who asked for compensation following being fired by Chief Minister Siddharamaiah in the aftermath of the stampede, the CAT was assigned to look into the event.
