On Wednesday, June 11, 2025, the Karnataka High Court heard arguments regarding the legality of the arrests of four individuals connected to Royal Challengers Sports Pvt. Ltd. (RCSPL) and DNA Networks Pvt. Ltd. These four—Nikhil Sosale (head of marketing at RCSPL), Sunil Mathew (director at DNA), Kiran Kumar (event manager at DNA), and Shamant Mavinakere (a freelancer with DNA)—were arrested after a deadly stampede on June 4 outside the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru. The stampede occurred while fans were celebrating Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s IPL 2025 win, resulting in 11 fatalities.
Justice S.R. Krishna Kumar, who heard the case, said he would announce his decision on Thursday afternoon. The four people arrested are currently in Bengaluru Central Prison, and the Crime Investigation Department (CID) is handling the case, seeking to take them into custody for further investigation.
Arguments from Both Sides
The lawyers for the four arrested people argued that their arrests were not legal. They said the police only arrested them because the Chief Minister, Siddaramaiah, told them to, and not because they did anything wrong. They also claimed the government was trying to shift blame for the tragic stampede onto them.
Advocate General Shashi Kiran Shetty, the state’s chief legal officer, opposed this view. He said the police followed all the rules and court guidelines when making the arrests. He also said there was no proof that the Chief Minister ordered the arrests. The Advocate General pointed out that the arrested people were given written reasons for why they were being taken into custody, and that they were not being singled out unfairly. He also mentioned that the RCB franchise is a very wealthy company, but the judge said the company’s money was not relevant to the case.
Event Permission and Crowd Management
One of the main issues discussed was whether RCB and DNA had official permission to hold the victory celebration at the stadium. According to the state government, neither RCB nor DNA got the required approvals for such a large event. Instead, they only sent a letter to the local police on June 3, saying they might want to celebrate if RCB won, but this was just to inform, not to ask for permission. The government said that, by law, they should have applied for permission at least a week in advance.
The Advocate General said RCB made a public announcement on social media about the celebration right after the team won, inviting a huge number of fans. The stadium can hold 33,000 people, but only 18,000 tickets were available. The state argued that the open invitation on social media led to a much bigger crowd than could be safely managed, which resulted in the stampede.
Petitioners’ Defense
The arrested staffers and their lawyers argued that the event was planned with the knowledge of the government and the Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA). They said the government itself had talked about the celebration and that the police gave verbal approval for the parade and event. They also claimed that entry to the stadium was supposed to be only for those with official passes, which were given out through the RCB website, to control the number of people attending.
They further argued that the police arrested them unfairly and that the real responsibility for the crowd and safety lay with the authorities, who were aware of the event and did not stop it. The defense said the arrests were made quickly, possibly to show that action was being taken after the tragedy, rather than because of clear evidence against these individuals.
Government’s Stand
The government, however, insisted that the event was held without permission and that RCB and DNA did not have proper plans for crowd control or safety. The Advocate General said the last-minute social media posts by RCB, which invited everyone to the celebration, were irresponsible and directly led to the overcrowding and stampede. He also said that the accused tried to leave the state after the incident, which is why they were arrested.
Court’s Response
The judge heard arguments from both parties for several hours. He noted that whether the company is rich or not does not matter in deciding the case. The court reserved its order, meaning it will announce the decision on the legality of the arrests and whether the four should get interim relief (temporary release) on Thursday at 2:30 pm.
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