CAT blames RCB for deadly stampede in Bengaluru, says IPL team 'did not take the appropriate permission'

The Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) has said that Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) is “prima facie responsible” for the tragic stampede that took place outside M Chinnaswamy Stadium on 4 June. The incident happened during RCB’s IPL 2025 victory celebrations and led to the death of 11 people, while many others were injured.

CAT blames RCB for stampede

The Tribunal was hearing a case filed by Additional Commissioner of Police Vikash Kumar Vikash, who had been suspended after the incident. In its ruling, CAT said that the police were not at fault and instead blamed RCB for poor planning and not taking proper permissions from the authorities.

“Prima facie it appears that the RCB is responsible for the gathering of about three to five lakh people. The RCB did not take the appropriate permission or consent from the Police. Suddenly, they posted on social media platforms and as a result of aforesaid information the public were gathered,” the Tribunal’s order read.

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CAT also said that the police were not given enough time to prepare. After winning their maiden IPL title on 3 June, RCB took to social media to announce a victory parade and invited supporters to join the celebrations with players for free at the Chinnaswamy Stadium.

As a result, a massive crowd turned up at Vidhana Soudha and Chinnaswamy Stadium for the team’s victory parade the next day. The Bengaluru traffic police cancelled the open-bus tour due to security concerns, but the rest of the event went as planned, including a felicitation ceremony at the state assembly.

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“It cannot be expected from the Police that within a short time of about 12 hours the Police will make all arrangements required in the Police Act or in the other rules. Police personnel are also human beings…To control the aforesaid type of gathering and for making the proper arrangements sufficient time should be given to the Police.” the order stated.

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The gathering outside the Chinnaswamy Stadium turned tragic when a stampede broke out after police were unable to manage the massive crowd. Following the incident, RCB deleted the social media post about free entry but went ahead with the victory celebrations despite the reported deaths. The Karnataka government also took part in the event, even though the stampede had already taken place.

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Following criticism, the state government suspended senior police officials and ordered the arrest of RCB and Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA) officials. The tribunal has now blamed RCB for the incident and said that the police were not at fault.