Bengaluru stampede: Karnataka govt seeks time; HC reserves order till June 11

Sosale was arrested at Bengaluru Airport, as he was heading to Dubai, on an FIR filed in the aftermath of the stampede.

Bengaluru: The Karnataka government has sought time till Wednesday morning to file its response in the petition before the Karnataka High Court challenging the arrest of Nikhil Sosale, Marketing Head of the Royal Challengers Bangalore (Royal Challengers Sports Private Limited), in the Bengaluru stampede case.  

Justice SR Krishna Kumar adjourned the hearing to Wednesday morning even as the advocates appearing for Nikhil urged the court for his immediate release. 

This came as the state government sought time till Wednesday morning to file its response in the petition before the Karnataka High Court challenging the arrest.

Justice SR Krishna Kumar adjourned the hearing to Wednesday morning even as the advocates appearing for Nikhil urged the court for his immediate release.

Nikhil Sosale was arrested on June 5, 2025 in connection with the stampede at the M Chinnaswamy stadium that claimed 11 lives. During the hearing, senior advocate Sandesh Chouta, appearing for Nikhil Sosale, argued that as per the recent Apex Court judgement, an arrest, if deemed illegal, cannot continue even for a single minute.

The advocate reiterated the grounds to submit that the arrest carried out by the Central Crime Branch (CCB), in a FIR registered by the Cubbon Park police, is illegal on multiple grounds.

He said that there is no document submitted explaining who authorised the CCB to carry out the arrest when the case was transferred to the Criminal Investigation Department. He further said that the remand application does not mention any of these details.

Meanwhile, Advocate General K Shashikiran Shetty submitted that he would make his submissions on Wednesday morning. He said the reply is being prepared and a detailed statement will be filed. The court adjourned the hearing to Wednesday morning.

Time sought in PIL:

Earlier, the state government sought time before a division bench to file the status report regarding the stampede incident. A division bench headed by Acting Chief Justice V Kameshwar Rao was hearing the suo motu PIL registered to examine whether the incident could have been prevented and what remedies can be taken for future events. The bench had directed the state government status report reflecting nine issues/points regarding the stampede, including who took the decision to hold the victory celebration and in what manner.

The AG submitted that he required time to file the status report and also sought permission of the court to file the report in a sealed cover. The bench permitted the AG to file the status report in a sealed cover on Thursday afternoon. At this time, a senior advocate informed the court that a few family members of the victims of the stampede wished to intervene in the proceedings. The bench asked the advocates to be present on the next date of hearing.