Bengaluru Stampede: Tribunal Blames RCB For Chinnaswamy Chaos

On Tuesday, the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) noted that the stampede that occurred in Bengaluru on June 4 seemed to be mostly the fault of the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB). The tribunal noted that the police do not have "magical powers like Aladdin's lamp," and that it is unrealistic to expect them to make all the necessary arrangements in just 12 hours. 

The IPL team came under fire from the tribunal for declaring their victory celebrations without getting police approval, which led to a crowd surge outside M Chinnaswamy Stadium that left 11 people dead and numerous others injured.

The Bengaluru bench of the tribunal comprising Justice BK Shrivastava and administrative member Santhosh Mehra said in an order, “…Prima facie, it appears that the RCB is responsible for the gathering of about three to five lakh people. The RCB did not take the appropriate permission or consent from the Police. Suddenly, they posted on social media platforms and as a result of aforesaid information the public were gathered."

It further added, "Police personnel are also human beings. They are neither 'God' nor magicians. They do not have the magic powers like 'Alladin ka Chirag' (Alladin's lamp) that they can fulfill any wish by rubbing a finger."

The government "will give the same benefit to the other officers who were suspended by the same order," the Tribunal added, expressing its expectation. The other four officers suspended by the same ruling are former Cubbon Park Inspector Girish, former City Police Commissioner B. Dayananda, former DCP (Central) H.T. Shekhar, and former Cubbon Park ACP Balakrishna.

Since Chief Minister Siddaramaiah personally announced the officers' suspension at a press conference, the order is viewed as a defeat for the State government. It was informed by government sources that the Karnataka High Court is likely to dispute the order.

RCB, which won their first IPL championship on June 3 at Ahmedabad's Narendra Modi Stadium after defeating Punjab Kings in the final, has not yet commented on the event.

KSCA treasurer ES Jairam and secretary A Shankar had previously resigned from their positions, taking moral responsibility for the incident.

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