Bengaluru Stampede News: The Karnataka High Court on Tuesday refused to grant interim relief to Nikhil Sosale, the marketing head of Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB), who was arrested in connection with the June 4 stampede outside Bengaluru’s M Chinnaswamy Stadium that claimed 11 lives.

The court, while hearing Sosale’s plea challenging the legality of his arrest, decided to postpone the hearing to June 11. The decision came after the state government requested additional time to file its response. Advocate General K Shashikiran Shetty informed the court that a detailed reply would be submitted by Wednesday morning.

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Justice S R Krishna Kumar adjourned the matter, noting the urgency raised by Sosale’s legal team, who argued that his arrest violated legal norms. Sosale was arrested by the Central Crime Branch (CCB) in the early hours of June 6 at Bengaluru airport. His counsel, senior advocate Sandesh Chouta, argued that the arrest lacked proper authorisation and documentation.

Chouta contended that the case, originally registered at Cubbon Park police station, had already been transferred to the Criminal Investigation Department (CID). He questioned the legal grounds under which the CCB proceeded with the arrest. “The arrest must be backed by written authorisation, especially when conducted under delegated powers,” Chouta stated, referring to Section 55 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS).

Highlighting a lack of clarity in the remand documents, Sosale’s legal team pointed out that the FIR only referred to unnamed entities. They argued that Sosale’s arrest appeared arbitrary, as no individual allegations had been made against him.

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Meanwhile, the state government defended its actions. Additional Public Prosecutor B N Jagadeesha assured the court that the necessary authorisation existed and would be presented in the form of documented orders issued by a senior officer. He added that the timeline of events from June 5 to June 6 would be clarified in the official response.

The court noted the confusion regarding the arrest timeline, especially since public statements had indicated that the CID was handling the investigation.

In a separate matter, the state government also sought time before a division bench led by Acting Chief Justice V Kameshwar Rao to file a status report in the suo motu PIL concerning the stampede incident. The court allowed the report to be submitted in a sealed cover by Thursday and agreed to hear from families of the victims wishing to intervene in the case.