Karnataka High Court Grants Interim Relief to RCB Marketing Head and Event Organisers in IPL Stampede Case
In a significant development in the tragic June 4 stampede case that claimed the lives of 11 people, the Karnataka High Court on Thursday granted interim relief to Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) Marketing Head Nikhil Sosale and three other individuals associated with the event’s planning and execution.
The High Court also extended this relief to Sunil Mathew, Kiran Kumar S, and Shamant N P Mavinakere — all affiliated with DNA Entertainment Networks Pvt Ltd, the firm responsible for organising the celebratory event that ended in catastrophe.
The group was arrested on June 6 following a massive public outcry and an intensifying police investigation.
Justice S R Krishna Kumar presided over the hearing and issued an order directing the interim release of the four individuals from judicial custody.
As part of the court’s directives, all four petitioners have been ordered to surrender their passports immediately, signaling the seriousness with which the judiciary is treating the ongoing investigation and the potential for flight risk.
The court had earlier heard detailed arguments on June 11 from both the petitioners’ legal counsel and the state’s prosecution, after which Justice Krishna Kumar had reserved his judgment. On Thursday, he delivered his verdict in favour of granting temporary bail.
The arrests stem from a stampede that took place outside the iconic M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru, where thousands had gathered to celebrate RCB’s historic maiden IPL title win.
What was meant to be a jubilant public event turned into a horrifying ordeal as crowd control mechanisms failed miserably, leading to the death of 11 individuals and injuries to several others.
Eyewitnesses had described scenes of panic, chaos, and inadequate arrangements to manage the overwhelming crowd.
Sosale, along with the three DNA Entertainment officials, had been taken into judicial custody shortly after the tragedy.
The Criminal Investigation Department (CID), which is handling the probe, produced all four arrested individuals before a local magistrate on June 9, seeking nine-day custody to question them in depth about the planning, safety protocols, and crowd management measures (or lack thereof) that preceded the stampede.
However, the magistrate deferred the CID’s custody request, citing the pending decision from the High Court regarding the interim bail pleas.
With the HC now ruling in favour of the petitioners, it remains to be seen how the investigation progresses and whether the authorities will appeal the interim release.
This interim relief is expected to ignite further debate on accountability in public events and the responsibilities of private organisers and franchise stakeholders.
While the court has not made any final determination on culpability, it has signaled the need for due legal process while balancing the rights of the accused.
As of now, all four individuals — Sosale, Mathew, Kumar, and Mavinakere — are expected to comply with the court’s directions as the investigation continues to uncover the full scope of what led to one of Bengaluru’s deadliest peacetime stampedes in recent memory.
