Chinnaswamy stampede | High Court turns down event management firm's plea against judicial inquiry

Bengaluru: The Karnataka High Court on Friday dismissed the petition filed by DNA Entertainment Networks, the event management company, challenging the judicial inquiry by retired high court judge John Michael Cunha in relation to the June 4 M Chinnaswamy Stadium stampede incident which claimed 11 lives.

A division bench comprising Justices DK Singh and Tara Vitasta Ganju dismissed the petition filed by DNA Networks. The order copy is yet to be released.

The commission had submitted its report to the state government on July 11, 2025. The advocate for the petitioner submitted that the excerpts of the inquiry report have appeared in the media. As per the media reports, the commission has recommended action against the officials of Royal Challengers Sports Pvt Ltd (RCSPL), Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA) and petitioner DNA, the event management company.

The petitioner company contended that the terms of reference in the notification, constituting the commission of inquiry, nowhere empowered the commission to make recommendations for initiating action. The petitioner company submitted that the inquiry report was submitted in haste. According to the petitioner, the government tried to absolve itself from the responsibility and redirected the blame to others.

The commission overlooked crucial documents demonstrating their efforts to manage the event inside the stadium. The company further stated that the stampede had taken place outside the stadium and that it was only managing the event scheduled to happen inside the stadium.