Bengaluru stampede: Too early to assume RCB posts on X were primary triggers, says Karnataka High Court

The Karnataka High Court on Monday said that it was too early to assume that posts made by the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) were the sole or primary trigger for the June 4 Chinnaswamy Stadium stampede resulted in the deaths of 11 people, a Bar and Bench report said. 

The posts invited the public to join the celebrations planned to mark the victory of the RCB cricket team in the recently-concluded IPL tournament. 

Justice SR Krishna Kumar made the observation after Advocate General Shashi Kiran Shetty argued that RCB had recklessly invited the public to freely attend the event at Chinnaswamy Stadium by putting out three posts on X, the report added. 

Advocate General’s arguments against RCB 

The AG said that the posts by RCB were viewed by 13 crore people, and that the RCB had announced that victory celebrations would be held in Bengaluru shortly after it won the tournament in Ahmedabad. All of this was done without taking prior permission from the state, AG Shetty argued. 

According to the report, he urged the court not to grant RCB or the event manager, DNA Entertainment Networks Pvt Ltd, any relief against possible arrests. 

Earlier in the day, Royal Challengers Sports Limited (RCSL), the owner of RCB, had approached the Karnataka High Court seeking to quash the criminal case filed against it in connection with the stampede. The event organiser had also filed a separate petition challenging the FIR against it. 

While listing the matter for June 12, Justice Kumar instructed the state not to arrest anyone till then.  

(This is a developing story. Please check back for updates)