Chinnaswamy Stampede: Central Administrative Tribunal Holds RCB Responsible

CAT blames RCB for Chinnaswamy Stampede

Additional Commissioner (West) of Bengaluru Police Vikash Kumar Vikash, who is one of the officers who were suspended, filed a petition to The Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT).

The two-judge panel of the Central Administrative Tribunal, consisting of Justice BK Shrivastava and Santosh Mehra, determined that RCB 'created a nuisance' by organizing IPL victory celebrations without obtaining the necessary prior approvals from the appropriate regulatory bodies.

The CAT clarified that, under the provisions of the Licensing and Controlling of Assemblies and Public Procession (Bengaluru City) Order, 2009, any event planning requires filing an application seven days in advance, excluding the submission and event dates. The order stated that no such application was received from either RCB or DNA event management.

On June 3, the day of the IPL final, Shubhendu Ghosh, the CEO of Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA), sent a letter from DNA Network to the cop at Cubbon Park Police Station near Chinnaswamy Stadium. He mentioned that if RCB won, there might be victory parades around the ground that would wrap up with celebrations inside the stadium, as per the order.

According to the CAT order, when the letter was sent, there was no solid guarantee RCB would win the final, and it definitely didn't ask for approval to hold a victory parade or celebrations.

The order stated that the organiser did not wait for the Police's response. Instead, they submitted a letter at the last moment and went ahead with the scheduled activities.

“The organiser did not wait for the response of the Police. At the eleventh hour, they submitted a letter and started the scheduled programme,” the order read.

Posts by RCB Social Media Regarding Victory Parade

According to the order, RCB's scheduled announcements on June 4 commence at 7:01 a.m. Instagram post inviting fans to join the celebrations at the Chinnaswamy Stadium, emphasizing free entry with no tickets or passes required. At 8 a.m., a second message on X reiterated the open invitation, indicating that the event was open to everyone. Later, a third post featured Virat Kohli inviting fans to celebrate the victory. 

Finally, at 3:14 p.m., a fourth message was issued, clarifying that entry would be restricted, contrary to earlier statements.

Prior to this, there had been no publicly available information about any pass distribution, effectively serving as an open invitation. These social media posts generated immense online engagement: the first post amassed 16 lakh views, the second attracted 4.26 lakh, the third garnered 7.6 lakh, and the fourth drew 17 lakh views. 

According to CAT, the online visibility significantly contributed to a record-breaking crowd, with more than 3 lakh people attending—well beyond the stadium's capacity of 35,000—making the event extremely crowded.

The order stated RCB didn't take permission from police, neither did the police were given ample time to prepare for the event.

“RCB did not take the appropriate permission or consent from the Police. Suddenly, they posted on social media platforms and as a result of aforesaid information the public were gathered. Because of the shortage of time on 04.06.2025, the Police was unable to do the appropriate arrangements. Sufficient time was not given to the Police. Suddenly, RCB created the aforesaid type of nuisance without any prior permission,” ESPNcricinfo quoted the order.

“Police personnel are also human beings. To control the aforesaid type of gathering and for making the proper arrangements sufficient time should be given to the Police,” it further reads.

RCB finally won their first IPL trophy in 18 years!

Meanwhile, the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) had their long 18 year wait come to an end as the Rajat Patidar-led side won the IPL 2025 title. RCB beat Punjab Kings in the final match at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.

Batting first, Royal Challengers Bengaluru scored 190 runs for the loss of 9 wickets in their 20 overs. Virat Kohli played the valuable knock of 43 runs off 35 balls with small but important contributions from the likes of Mayank Agarwal, Rajat Patidar, Liam Livingstone, Jitesh Sharma and Romario Shepherd.

In pursuit of 191 runs target, Punjab Kings added 43 runs for the opening wicket before Priyansh Arya was dismissed. After that, the Kings kept on losing wickets in regular intervals, not able to add a match winning partnership. The Kings needed 29 runs in the final over, but in the end, RCB won the match by 6 runs to lift their maiden IPL trophy.

Krunal Pandya and Bhuvneshwar Kumar took 2 wickets each for RCB while the likes of Josh Hazlewood, Yash Dayal and Romario Shepherd also picked a wicket each.

RCB Moves To High Court

Royal Challengers Bengaluru moved to the Karnataka High Court against the remarks from the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT). In their attempt to squash the remarks made by CAT, RCB has moved to the High Court. The franchise says that their side of the defence was never heard before, naming RCB the prima facie of the stampede case.