No coercive against RCB, DNA till June 12 in Bengaluru stampede case, says Karnataka HC

Bengaluru, Jun 9 (PTI) The Karnataka High Court on Monday restrained officials from taking any coercive action against RCB and event partner DNA Entertainment Pvt Ltd till June 12, in the stampede incident near M Chinnaswamy Stadium that killed 11 people.

The court adjourned the hearing on petitions filed by Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) and DNA Entertainment Pvt Ltd to June 12. In the interim, no coercive action should be taken against the officials of the concerned, it said.

RCB and DNA had moved the court challenging the FIR registered against them in connection with the June 4 stampede that occurred during celebratory a event to mark RCB's maiden IPL triumph a day earlier.

Justice S R Krishna Kumar posted the matter for hearing on June 12.

"There is a gentleman's understanding -- don't do anything till we take up the matter," the judge told the state government, warning against unnecessary. The court also noted that the petition involving Nikhil Sosale, Head of Marketing at RCB and already under arrest, would be taken up separately at 10.30 am on Tuesday (June 10).

The hearing witnessed a sharp exchange between senior advocate C V Nagesh, representing RCB and DNA, and Advocate General (AG) Shashikiran Shetty for the state.

Nagesh argued that there was no prima facie case against his clients, and that the allegations were largely composite, involving all three parties -- KSCA, RCB and DNA.

"Except for one sentence, the entire FIR makes composite allegations against all three. There's no independent case made out against RCB or DNA," Nagesh said, adding that it was not petitioner, but the chief minister of Karnataka who had invited everybody.

But AG Shetty said it was the posts on 'X' by both RCB and DNA that brought people to the stadium. "Thirteen crore people saw it," the AG said, maintaining that RCB had announced the event without required permissions.

"At 10.30 am, without informing the government, they tweeted that there would be a rally. Five lakh people came, and only 21 gates were there. If they had simply opened the gates, lives could have been saved," he argued.

However, Justice Krishna Kumar observed that, "Today, we are not in a position to say whether it was the tweet or the CM's invitation or something else that caused the incident. It's too premature. We're only dealing with a plea for protection from arrest." He also repeatedly asked the state to clarify how the allegations against RCB and DNA differed from those against Karnataka State Cricket Association, to whom the court had earlier granted protection from arrest.

"Except for that one sentence about free passes, everything else seems to be composite," the judge said after reading the FIR and supporting documents.

"At one point, the AG expressed concern that the petitioners could destroy evidence if granted protection". The judge responded that the inquiry commission would eventually determine accountability.

"The investigation will reveal who among the three -- RCB, DNA, KSCA -- is responsible. If it turns out the tweet had no impact, what then?" Justice Krishna Kumar asked.

Meanwhile, Nagesh argued that the FIR invokes offences requiring a deliberate act, not mere omission. "There is no overt act that amounts to an offence here," he said, citing legal provisions that do not criminalise such omissions outside specific statutory frameworks like the Factories Act.

On June 12, apart from hearing petitions filed by RCB and DNA against the FIR, one more related petition, involving a person already arrested, will also be heard. PTI COR JR KH