Stampede Case: Karnataka HC asks police not to file chargesheet without its permission

The Karnataka High Court on Tuesday asked the state government not to file a chargesheet in connection with the FIR registered after 11 persons lost their lives in the stampede outside the Chinnaswamy stadium on June 4 without the court’s permission.

Chaos broke out after crowds of Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) fans flocked to the stadium on June 4 to see their favourite cricket stars as the team landed at the stadium to celebrate their IPL victory the previous night after a long gap of 18 years.

The police had on June 5 registered an FIR against RCB’s franchise, DNA Entertainment Network and Karnataka State Cricket Association ( KSCA), holding them responsible for the death and injuries caused to people.

Justice SR Krishna Kumar passed the interim order on petitions filed by the top executives of RCB and DNA and KSCA praying for the quashing of the FIR.

The counsels for the petitioners argued that any charge sheet at this stage would affect their ongoing case. The court too felt a chargesheet would make the petitions infructuous when the FIR’s validity was under a legal challenge.

The court said while the police could continue with their investigation, they must not file a chargesheet without the court’s permission. The court posted the case for further hearing to August 5.

RCB MOVES COURT:
The RCB franchise on Tuesday moved the high court challenging the adverse comments against it in the July 1 order of the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT). The CAT, while setting aside the suspension of IGP Vikash Kumar Vikash, lobbed the blame for the stampede at the doorstep of the RCB in its 29-page order.

The CAT said the RCB gave wide publicity to the event via the social media without the permission from the police and invited people to participate in the victory parade saying the entry was free. “The action of the RCB led to a public gathering of immense proportion exceeding three lakh individuals."

The CAT held that prima facie it appeared RCB was responsible for the gathering of about three to five lakh people. Because of a shortage of time on June 4, the police were unable to make the appropriate arrangements. Sufficient time was not given to the police.