Event management company DNA Entertainment Tuesday expressed concerns in the Karnataka High Court about the damage to its reputation, and raised the issue of not receiving a copy during their submissions while challenging the Justice John Michael D’Cunha report on the June 4 Bengaluru cricket stadium stampede.
A division bench of Justices Jayant Banerji and Umesh Adiga was hearing DNA’s plea against the panel’s report, submitted last Thursday, seeking to quash it. It also sought an interim stay on the implementation of its recommendations.
Among the extensive findings and recommendations of the report are a recommendation for legal actions against DNA, Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB), the Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA), and police officers over the M Chinnaswamy cricket stadium stampede, where 11 people died.
A meeting of the Karnataka Cabinet last Thursday, led by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, had accepted the report.
Recalling the events of the day, DNA’s counsel Senior Advocate B K Sampath Kumar stated, “It so happened that the function at the Vidhana Soudha drew a lot of crowds… at the behest of government officials and politicians, I wouldn’t want to name them, the entire audience were asked to go to the stadium where the team was being facilitated.”
Kumar also raised concerns regarding procedural aspects of the judicial inquiry.
Referring to media reports seeming to have details of the judicial report and not the petitioners, he added, “Panel holds so and so responsible for stampede. How do they (media) know about it? Against the names also….they are all named. Apart from that, TV9 has even published the names of all the people”.
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While noting that “every second” the reputation of the petitioner was being tarnished, Kumar clarified that he was confining his submissions to the questions of right to reputation and natural justice.
Meanwhile, Advocate General Shashikiran Shetty suggested that the matter be deferred to see the stand of the Chief Justice’s bench in the matter, as it was hearing the suo motu Public Interest Litigation (PIL) in the Bengaluru stampede case. The matter is set to be heard again next Tuesday.
Meanwhile, DNA requested a clarification before the bench of Chief Justice Vibhu Bakhru and Justice CM Joshi that the suo motu proceedings would not interfere with their petition before the other bench, while the court put on record that the Karnataka Government had sought time to put forward the SOP for managing large groups.