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The Karnataka High Court on Monday, June 23 appointed Senior Advocate S Susheela as amicus curiae to assist in the proceedings in a suo motu Public Interest Litigation (PIL) concerning the June 4 stampede outside M Chinnaswamy Stadium, which claimed 11 lives during the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) victory celebrations.
A Division Bench comprising Acting Chief Justice V Kameswar Rao and Justice CM Joshi passed the order while hearing the PIL, and directed the state government to furnish all relevant documents, including the sealed-cover report previously submitted to the court.
The Bench, however, refrained from commenting on a plea made by Royal Challengers Sports Private Ltd. (RCSPL), which owns the RCB team, seeking permission to disburse Rs 10 lakh each in compensation to the families of the deceased.
RCSPL’s counsel informed the court that the compensation offer had been announced publicly before any criminal case was registered in connection with the stampede. He requested the court’s approval to proceed with the payments, noting that the company feared the move might be viewed unfavourably amid ongoing criminal proceedings.
Meanwhile, Deputy Commissioner G Jagadeesha, who is leading the magisterial inquiry into the stampede, has issued a notice to now suspended Bengaluru Police Commissioner B Dayananda, directing him to appear before the inquiry. Dayananda has reportedly sought more time.
The inquiry, which began by recording statements of victims, has so far questioned over 40 police personnel, including senior officers of the rank of Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) and Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) who were deployed at the stadium on June 4.
The process has now moved to the questioning of the five officers suspended by the state government on June 6 for their alleged dereliction of duty. These include officers from the Cubbon Park Police Station and the former city police commissioner.
On June 21, the inquiry team recorded the statement of ACP C Balakrishna, and on June 23, it questioned Inspector AV Girish of Cubbon Park Police Station. The statements of DCP Shekhar HT, Additional Commissioner Vikash Kumar Vikash, and former Police Commissioner B Dayananda are pending.
Parallely, a one-man judicial inquiry led by retired Karnataka High Court judge Michael D’Cunha has also begun proceedings.
The High Court adjourned the PIL hearing to July 1 and asked Advocate Susheela to file her response.
Earlier, TNM looked at the FIRs, court filings, documents and statements made in the public domain about the stampede, and all sides seem to be intent on putting the onus of organising the two events on the others.