 "Royal Challengers Bengaluru marketing and revenue head Nikhil Sosale was among four people arrested by Bengaluru Police on 6 June in connection with the stampede at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium. PTI")
The Karnataka High Court granted interim bail to senior Royal Challengers Bengaluru official Nikhil Sosale on Thursday as well as three executives associated with event management company DNA Entertainment in connection with the Bengaluru stampede case.
Sosale, marketing and revenue head of Royal Challengers Sports Private Limited, the company that owns RCB, had been arrested at Bengaluru’s Kempegowda International Airport on Friday, 6 June – two days after a deadly stampede broke out at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium where franchise was celebrating its maiden IPL title, which had left 11 dead and up to 75 injured.
Sunil Mathew and Kiran Kumar, Director and Event Manager of DNA Networks Private Limited, had also been taken into police custody for questioning along with Shamant NP Mavinakere, a freelancer associated with the organisation.
Karnataka HC cites ‘absence of material’ while granting interim bail
Justice SR Krishna Kumar of the Karnataka High Court, however, passed an order on Thursday in which he observed that Sosale and the others cannot remain in jail in the absence of material that could establish their involvement in events that led to the tragedy on 4 June.
“The petitioners herein who are officials / employees / directors of RCB and DNA cannot be equated with the said companies and in the absence of any material prior to their arrest to establish their involvement and participation in the event so as to cause the mishap, the petitioners cannot be held to be vicariously liable for the alleged offences especially when they are not even named as accused persons in the subject FIRs,” read an official statement from the Court on Bar and Bench.
Sosale, who was catching a flight to Mumbai when he was nabbed by Bengaluru cops, had earlier described his arrest as “arbitrary” and “illegal” in his petition before the court.
Impact Shorts
More ShortsBefore granting interim bail to Sosale and the DNA executives, the Karnataka HC had granted interim bail to senior officials belonging to the Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA), which owns the Chinnaswamy Stadium where RCB’s title celebrations had turned tragic.
KSCA secretary A Shankar and treasurer ES Jairam, however, had resigned on 7 June citing “moral responsibility” over the incident.
A separate complaint had also been registered against RCB superstar Virat Kohli , in which social activist HM Venkatesh accused the former India captain of promoting “gambling through IPL” which had “incited” people to turn up in large numbers at the Chinnaswamy, and led to the stampede.