Bengaluru: The Karnataka government on Thursday submitted, in a sealed cover, a comprehensive report on the June 4 Chinnaswamy Stadium stampede case, which claimed 11 lives, to the Karnataka High Court even as it questioned the state about the multiple inquiry commissions set up to probe the tragedy.
A Division Bench, headed by Acting Chief Justice V. Kameshwara Rao and Justice C.M. Joshi, which had taken suo motu cognisance of the matter, further instructed the prosecution to keep all communication, both prior and subsequent to the stampede incident, in the custody of the Chief Secretary of Karnataka.
The bench questioned the probe being carried out by multiple agencies into the stampede incident, as per the state government’s directions. It warned Advocate General Shashi Kiran Shetty about the possibility of different findings. “We will not spare you if the findings by different commissions are different,” it said.
The bench also directed the prosecution to submit the terms of reference provided to the various commissions probing the stampede incident. The Advocate General submitted that these would be provided within two days.
The government had ordered a magisterial probe, an investigation by the Criminal Investigation Department (CID), and a one-man Judicial Commission inquiry into the stampede case.
On June 5, the High Court sought a report from the state government on the lapses and other details concerning the stampede. Taking cognisance of the incident, the High Court registered a suo motu Public Interest Litigation (PIL).
Expressing concern over the tragedy, the bench had questioned the government on whether the Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) were followed and if adequate guidelines were framed to handle the situation at the Chinnaswamy Stadium during the victory celebrations.
It further sought to know the total number of gates to the Chinnaswamy Stadium and how many were opened during the celebration to grant entry to fans. The Bench also questioned the absence of medical facilities at the spot and the lack of ambulances to shift those who fell sick.
The court asked whether all the deaths occurred at the gates of the Chinnaswamy Stadium.
Shetty, representing the government, submitted the available report on the tragedy, stating that while the seating capacity of the Chinnaswamy Stadium is 35,000, about 2.5 lakh people had gathered. He informed the court that normally, 700 police personnel are deputed to monitor the crowd during cricket matches, but during the celebration event, the Police Department had deputed 1,600 personnel to control the crowd.
People from across the state and Tamil Nadu had come to participate in the event, which led to the tragedy, he said. He further informed the court that there are 21 gates to the Chinnaswamy Stadium and, as per the information available with the government, all of them remained open.
However, senior counsel G.R. Mohan submitted that only three gates remained open during the celebration event at the stadium. Senior counsel Hemanth Raj argued that there was no need for the state government to felicitate the RCB players, as they had not played for the country. He submitted that since two programmes were allowed on a single day, the tragedy occurred.
(IANS)
