There was no license, nor permission was taken… Report of Bangalore stampede came out, RCB was held guilty

The investigation report has come regarding the stampede that took place during the victory parade of Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB). The Karnataka government has said in its report submitted to the High Court that Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) had invited people “unilaterally” and “without permission” from the police for the victory parade at the Chinnaswamy Stadium. Let us tell you that 11 people died and more than 50 people were injured in this stampede. This report has been made public after the direction of the Karnataka High Court. The state government had urged the court to keep the report confidential, but the court said that this confidentiality has no legal basis.

The state government has said in its report that the RCB management had approached the police on June 3, the day RCB won the IPL after a long drought of 18 years. And told the police about the possible victory parade. The report said that it was just an information, not like seeking permission under the law. It further states that such permissions have to be taken at least seven days before the event.

The report said that in this case, the applicant / organizer has to send a letter in the prescribed format to the licensing authority. No application was submitted. In the absence of the requisite information in the prescribed format, it was not possible for the licensing authority to consider the request positively. Subsequently, the request made by KSCA on 03.06.2025 at around 6.30 pm was not allowed by the Police Inspector of Cubbon Park Police Station, as there was lack of information about the estimated crowd expected for both possible outcomes of the final match, i.e. RCB’s win or loss, arrangements made, etc.

The report states that RCB, without consulting the police, posted a photo on its official social media handles the next day at 7.01 am, informing “free entry for people and inviting the public to participate in the victory parade which will commence from Vidhana Soudha and conclude at the Chinnaswamy Stadium.”

Another post was made at 8 am, reiterating this information. Subsequently, on 04.06.2025 at 8:55 am, RCB posted a photo on its official social media handles, the report states. On their official handle @Rcbtweets on X, a video clip of Virat Kohli, a key player of the RCB team was shared. In which he told that the team wants to celebrate this victory with the people of Bengaluru city and RCB fans in Bengaluru on 04.06.2025.

After this, RCB made another post on 04.06.2024 at 3:14 pm, announcing to organize a victory parade from 5:00 pm to 6:00 pm from Vidhana Soudha to Chinnaswamy Stadium. This victory parade will be followed by celebrations at Chinnaswamy Stadium. This post mentioned for the first and only time that free passes (limited entry) were available on shop.royalchallengers.com, and there was no information about pass distribution till now. This means that based on the previous posts of RCB, the event was open to all.