Karnataka Cabinet Allows Filing Of Criminal Cases Against RCB And KSCA

Accused under the D'Cunha Commission Report

The D'Cunha Commission report contains several findings and recommendations that level charges against the event organisers, RCB and KSCA officials, and senior police officers. The report said that the organisers did not apply for mandatory permission under Government Order No. HD 149 SST of 2009 and the event was held without permission under the Licensing and Control of Meetings and Processions (Bengaluru City) Order, 2009. 

In this report legal action has been recommended against Royal Challengers Sports Pvt Ltd, DNA Entertainment Networks Pvt Ltd and KSCA. Moreover, it also recommended legal action against Deputy Commissioner of Police Shekhar H. Tekkanvar, Assistant Commissioner of Police C. Balakrishna, Police Inspector Girish A.K., Rajesh Menon, Dr. T Venkat Vardhan, Sunil Mathur and senior police officers like Additional Director General of Police B Dayanand, Inspector General Vikas Kumar Vikas.

Allegations under the D'Cunha Commission Report 

The Commission found that senior police officers allegedly acted at the behest of the organisers, even though they knew that there was no permission for the event. While only 79 of the 515 sanctioned personnel were posted at the gate, leaving the area severely understaffed. No first aid or emergency reception centre had been set up, and ambulances were parked far away from the scene, causing severe delays in medical assistance. Security alerts from the control room were not sent in time, further increasing the crowd.  

Let us tell you that RCB won their first IPL title by performing brilliantly in IPL 2025. In which they defeated Punjab Kings in the final match by 6 runs in a brilliant match. So it was decided to celebrate this victory at Bengaluru's home ground the next day. 

But after this, more and more RCB fans gathered outside the stadium, hoping to catch a glimpse of their team and King Kohli, who won their first IPL title. While the Congress government organised a felicitation ceremony at Vidhana Soudha, less than a kilometre away, a deadly stampede broke out on June 4 at around 3.25 pm as the crowd got out of control.

Hardly a month later, the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) on the 2nd of July, in a preliminary report, held RCB responsible for the stampede. The franchise then moved to the High Court to challenge the decision by the CAT. 

Karnataka Govt. shifts blame to RCB

Following this, on 17 July, the Karnataka government directly blamed RCB for the stampede on 4 June. In its report submitted to the high court, the government pointed to several lapses, including a public video appeal by cricketer Virat Kohli. He attracted a huge crowd, despite the police not permitting the event. In addition, the investigation revealed that key officials failed to act promptly. The joint police commissioner arrived at the scene at 4 pm, while the police commissioner was not informed of the incident until 5:30 pm.

The Karnataka government first initiated a magisterial inquiry into the stampede and directed the police to investigate the criminal aspects of the case. Multiple FIRs were filed against RCB, KSCA, and event management firm DNA Entertainment on charges of negligence and culpable homicide not amounting to murder.

Later, the government ordered a judicial probe and suspended five police officials, including the then Bengaluru Police Commissioner and two other Indian Police Service officers, for negligence of duty.

The action was taken after the Karnataka High Court intervened in the matter and asked nine crucial questions to the government to find out who was responsible for the deaths.