The Karnataka High Court dismissed a petition filed by DNA Entertainment Networks Private Limited as the state government told the court that no action would be taken based on the inquiry commission’s report without giving an opportunity to DNA to hear the stampede that took place outside the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium on June 4.
“In view of the specific stand of the state, the apprehension of the petitioner that without an opportunity to be heard, action will be taken against him on the basis of the (commission) report. We find that no further orders are necessary,” a division bench comprising Justice DK Singh and Justice Tara Vitasta Ganju said in its order.
“The (commission’s) report dated July 10, 2025 cannot be set aside on mere apprehensions and conjectures,” the Bench said when it was pointed out to the court that the commission’s report is yet to be made public and the DNA assumed on the basis of news reports that there were negative remarks against it in the report.
The petition was filed “as an additional attempt” to avoid any action on the inquiry commission’s recommendations, the Bench observed, as the state government pointed out that the DNA was challenging the commission’s report by adopting the contents of the report.
The Bench also noted that the government’s contention that the commission of inquiry was “merely a fact-finding body and the scope of the commission’s inquiry was not against the conduct of any individual/entity and was only to comprehensively and objectively investigate the incident as a whole to ascertain the facts leading to such a tragedy”.
As many as 11 people died and more than 50 people were injured in a stampede outside the stadium as fans gathered to celebrate Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s victory in the IPL-2025 cricket tournament.
While the state government blamed the Karnataka State Cricket Association, Royal Challengers Sports Private Limited (RCSPL), which owns RCB, and DNA, RCSPL’s event manager, blamed an event organized by the state government from the steps of the Vidhana Soudha to praise the RCB team as the catalyst for gathering a huge crowd that led to a stampede outside the stadium. Several lawsuits are pending before various courts in connection with the criminal cases registered in connection with the stampede incident.
Published – 24 Nov 2025 21:47 IST
