A government report released at the direction of the Karnataka High Court has held Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB), DNA Entertainment Pvt Ltd, and the Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA) accountable for organizing an unauthorized victory celebration in Bengaluru, which led to a tragic stampede during the 2025 IPL victory parade. The incident claimed eleven lives and left several others injured.
The report, submitted to the court on June 12, revealed that although RCB and DNA Entertainment had informed the local police on June 3 about the planned parade, they failed to obtain the mandatory permissions required under city regulations from 2009. Despite this denial, RCB proceeded with the event, inviting the public through social media posts, including a promotional video featuring star cricketer Virat Kohli on June 4.
The Karnataka High Court ordered that the report be made public, stating there was no reasonable basis for it to be sealed. The bench stated the public has a right to know about the report’s findings, considering the seriousness of the incident.
The report found that the RCB’s decision to host the celebrations without the necessary approvals resulted in chaos. The police, despite denying permission, had to deploy security personnel along the bus route on short notice. More than three lakh people gathered at the Chinnaswamy Stadium for the parade.
However, the report noted that while the police arranged two ambulances, two medical teams, and a fire engine in anticipation of crowd issues, the organizers RCB, DNA Entertainment, and KSCA failed to arrange any medical support for the attendees, despite inviting massive public participation.
The Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) also previously held RCB responsible for the stampede. In its ruling, the tribunal pointed out that the gathering of approximately three to five lakh people occurred after RCB’s sudden announcement on social media. It added that the police did not have adequate time on June 4 to make necessary safety arrangements due to the abrupt nature of the event.
The tribunal also struck down the Karnataka government’s suspension of senior IPS officer Vikash Kumar Vikash, who had been penalized in the aftermath of the incident. The Bengaluru bench of CAT, which consisted of Justice B K Shrivastava and administrative member Santhosh Mehra, reserved its judgment on June 24 and made their observations.
The government clear findings have created public and legal controversy, based on the fact that the results demonstrated serious failures in event coordination and managing public safety planning for the event. The High Court’s decision to publicly release the report has brought greater attention upon how public events, especially those with celebrity teams, may be managed in the future.
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