Karnataka HC Orders Release of Chinnaswamy Stampede Report
Court demands transparency in stadium stampede probe.
The Karnataka High Court has ordered the state government to share its sealed status report on the June 4, 2025, Chinnaswamy Stadium stampede with the Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA), Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB), and DNA Entertainment Networks. The directive comes as part of a suo motu public interest litigation addressing the tragic incident that occurred during RCB’s celebration of its first IPL title win.
A division bench, led by Acting Chief Justice V Kameswar Rao and Justice C M Joshi, rejected the state’s argument for withholding the report, which was submitted in a sealed cover. The state claimed that sharing the document could influence ongoing judicial and magisterial inquiries. The court dismissed this concern as baseless, stating that sealed cover confidentiality is reserved for cases involving national security, public interest, or privacy rights—none of which apply here.
The bench emphasized that the inquiries, led by retired judges and senior All-India Service officers, are unlikely to be swayed by the report’s contents. “Withholding the report from key parties while expecting their cooperation is unfair,” the judges noted, adding that sharing it would enable KSCA, RCB, and DNA Entertainment to provide valuable insights into the stampede’s causes, accountability, and preventive measures.
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The court’s suo motu proceedings aim to uncover the reasons behind the stampede, assign responsibility, and recommend steps to prevent future tragedies. By ordering the report’s release, the court underscored the need for transparency to better understand the sequence of events and determine whether the incident was avoidable.
