Bengaluru: The Karnataka High Court, on Thursday, took suo motu cognizance of the stampede outside M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru on Wednesday evening that left 11 persons dead and several others injured.
The court issued notice to the Karnataka Government to ascertain cause of the tragedy and how to prevent it in future.
The stampede occurred after nearly 2.5 lakh people gathered outside the stadium to witness the celebrations following RCB’s IPL 2025 victory.
The matter was mentioned before the division bench of Acting Chief Justice V Kameshwar Rao and Justice C M Joshi which had permitted listing of the matter at 2:30 pm
After hearing the matter for some time the bench remarked: “We will take suo motu cognizance. We are asking for further status report”.
Thereafter, it observed: “News items have been published in various newspapers, narrating the tragedy in which 11 persons died and 75 were injured during the course of victory celebration of RCB. This court is taking cognizance of the incident to ascertain the cause of the tragedy and how to prevent it in future. Also, we have received communications from several persons on this subject matter. We issue notice to the state government…Registry is directed to register this suo-mot cognizance as suo moto WP. Relist on Tuesday”.
When the matter was taken up in the afternoon, advocate general Shashi Kiran Shetty gave details about the incident and police deployment during the event. He said that the Police Commissioner and other senior police officers were present at the venue. The number of police personnel totalled 1,483, while over 2.5 lakhs people had gathered near the stadium.
“People came from Dakshina Kannada, Kolar, Yadgir, Tumkur,” the advocate general said, adding that only six persons were in hospital at that moment and they would be released soon.
The Court then asked: “Suppose if anything happens of this nature in the future, do you have any SOP?”
Directing the state to prepare a SOP, the Court observed: “Are there any vehicles, which can be made available if such incident happens? To which hospitals will the injured be taken? All of this is to be included in the SOP”.
Shetty admitted that though ambulances were pressed into service, they were insufficient in number.
Meanwhile Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah posted on X about a magisterial Inquiry into the incident.
“The Deputy Commissioner of Bengaluru Urban District has been appointed as the Inquiry Officer. The report will be submitted within 15 days, based on which appropriate action will be taken,” the post reads,” he wrote.
RCB, meanwhile, has announced a compensation of Rs 10 lakh for each of those killed in Wednesday’s stampede.
