Bengaluru Stampede Case Hearing: The Karnataka High Court on Wednesday initiated formal proceedings into the stampede outside Bengaluru’s M Chinnaswamy Stadium that claimed 11 lives and injured scores during Royal Challengers Bangalore’s IPL victory celebrations. The court took suo motu cognisance of the tragedy earlier in the day.
Bengaluru Stampede Case Hearing
During the proceedings, the Advocate General informed the Karnataka High Court that an unexpected crowd of approximately 2.5 lakh people gathered outside M Chinnaswamy Stadium. The incident resulted in 11 fatalities, including five women and six men, while 56 individuals sustained injuries.
A division bench led by Acting Chief Justice V Kameshwar Rao raised serious concerns over the tragedy at Chinnaswamy Stadium, questioning whether Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) were followed and if adequate guidelines were in place to manage the victory celebrations.
The AG emphasised the need for a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) to handle such situations in the future, adding that efforts are underway to prevent a recurrence of such incidents.
The bench directed the state government to file a detailed report outlining the sequence of events, security preparedness, crowd management plans, and coordination between event organisers and authorities. The court scheduled the next hearing for Tuesday, granting time for preliminary findings to surface.
The bench sought details on the total number of entry gates at the stadium and how many were opened during the event, as per a report on IANS. It also questioned the apparent absence of medical facilities and ambulances to assist those who fell ill at the venue.
Further, the court inquired whether all the reported deaths occurred at the stadium gates. Directing the state government to file a detailed status report on the incident, the bench adjourned the hearing to June 10.