M. Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru. | Photo credit: K. MURALI KUMAR
The Karnataka High Court on February 23 (Monday) ordered that the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for crowd control and mass gathering, submitted to the court by the state government involving submissions from amicus curiae and others, will be enforced and operated until the government comes up with a crowd control law.
A Division Bench comprising Chief Justice Vibhu Bakhru and Justice CM Poonach issued the direction while disposing of a PIL suo motu initiated by the court in the matter of the stampede that took place outside the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium on June 4, 2025, which claimed 11 lives.
He can renew the petition
However, the court allowed senior advocate S. Susheel, who was named as amicus curiae in the petition, to revive the petition if it arose in future.
The bench closed the hearing on the petition after Advocate General K. Shashi Kiran Shetty informed it that the Ministry of Home Affairs had forwarded the SOP to the Legislative Assembly Secretary for submission to the Scrutiny Committee of the Assembly for review of the SOP along with the proposed Karnataka Crowd Control (Crowd Management at Events and Place of Assembly) Act, 2025.
Pointing out that the provisions contained in the SOP are much better compared to the provisions contained in the Bill, Ms. Susheela suggested that the Legislative Committee may also consider the provisions in the SOP while finalizing the Bill.
The state government submitted the SOP for the court’s consideration last year and the advocate general in December 2025 agreed to accept submissions from amicus curiae and various parties to the petition, including the Karnataka State Cricket Association, Royal Challengers Bengaluru, DNA Entertainment Networks Pvt. Ltd., and others. On January 13, the government submitted a revised SOP incorporating several of their proposals.
Application and digital portal
According to the SOP, the organizers of any event likely to gather 1,000 or more people and procession of more than 100 people will have to submit an application on the prescribed forms along with a crowd management plan before a designated police officer.
The SOP proposes to set up technology platforms and digital portals to apply for a permit, obtain a no-object certificate from various authorities, assess the application and decide on the application within three days from the date of application.
Restrictions on social networks
The organizer of the event, the SOP states, will ensure that no social media posts or reports in electronic or print media relating to the event are made in violation of the terms of the license, without the prior approval of the licensing authority. The Promoter is also responsible for resolving and clarifying any misinformation or rumors related to the Event, should they occur.
Refresher course
While the SOP deals with how law enforcement agencies will have to act from the date of receipt of an event request to post-event analysis, it also requires all police officers up to the rank of Sub-Inspector of Police to undergo a mandatory annual refresher course in crowd management based on the SOP.
It has been made clear that “nothing in the SOP shall supersede the law” and in case of any discrepancy, the directions issued under the Disaster Management Act, 2005, orders of executive courts and statutory directions under the Police Act shall prevail.
Published – 23 Feb 2026 21:36 IST
