Bengaluru stampede incident: Karnataka High Court appoints Senior Advocate S. Susheela as amicus curiae

The High Court of Karnataka on Monday appointed Senior Advocate S. Susheela as amicus curiae to assist it in the proceedings on the PIL petition, which the court had suo motu initiated on the issue of death of 11 persons on June 4 stampede outside M. Chinnaswamy stadium during Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) team’s victory celebration in Bengaluru.

A Division Bench comprising acting Chief Justice V. Kameswar Rao and Justice C.M. Joshi passed the order during the hearing of the petition while directing the State government to provide copies of all documents, including the report submitted in sealed cover by the government.

Meanwhile, the Bench declined to express any view or make any comment on the plea made on behalf of the Royal Challengers Sports Private Ltd. (RCSPL), which owns RCB cricket team, to pay already announced compensation amounts to the legal heirs of the deceased persons.

Pointing out to the court that RCSPL had made public announcement about its commitment to pay ₹10 lakh as compensation to the legal heir of the deceased persons before the registration criminal case on stampede incident, advocate of the company said that they want approval from the court to make payment of compensation now as making such payment during the pendency of criminal proceedings should not held adversely against them.

While requesting Ms. Susheela to file her response, the court adjourned further hearing on the petition till July 1.