RCB's home ground, Chinnaswamy Stadium, banned from IPL
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According to the report of the judicial committee headed by Justice John Michael D'Cunha, the Chinnaswamy Stadium has been declared unsuitable to hold major events. If the government considers every province in the report, the holding of major events could be stopped at the iconic venue.
This commission was established to have a clear investigative view on the Chinnaswamy stampede during the victory celebrations of the Royal Challengers Bangalore. The stampede took place on 4th June, and the aforesaid accident saw the death of 11 innocent people, and several other players sustained injuries.
The incident took place because the place was overcrowded with a hell lot of people, and the police officials, as well as the DNA Network, the management company responsible for the grand event, were not expecting the large number of people, as RCB fans from all over India joined the RCB celebrations.
Justice rules Chinnaswamy Stadium as unsuitable for major events
The report provided by Justice D'Cunha has observed the "design and structure" of the Chinnaswamy Stadium to be ill-suited for events of such nature.
It mentioned several issues with the premises of the stadium and suggested that no 'high attendance' event should be held further in this venue.
“Any future venue should adhere to international standards,” as quoted by Deccan Herald.
The aforementioned report should have these required facilities: “purpose-built queuing and circulation zones, separated from public roads, adequate gates for mass entry and exit, integrated public transport access points and tourist hubs, emergency evacuation plans compliant with international safety norms, sufficient parking and drop-off infrastructure to handle attendee volumes.”
“The design and structure of the stadium was unsuitable and unsafe for mass gathering [sic]. All the entry and exit gates were directly opening into the footpath. Spacious and organised holding area for crowd were not provided at the entry."
"As a result, the audience were forced to queue up on the footpath or road (obstructing) and endangering pedestrians and vehicular movement as well as giving scope for miscreants to join the crowd and aggravating the risk, especially in the absence of proper security,” the report added.
RCB to face legal notice on the Stampede massacre
The Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah had earlier brought to notice that the report of the commission shall be presented in the Cabinet meeting, which was eventually held on the 24th of July.
The State Cabinet meeting approved the findings of the report of Justice D'Cunha and, according to it, held several authorities responsible for the nasty stampede. As reported by Mr. HK Patil, the Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister of Karnataka, the government is to take legal action against RCB, DNA Network, and the Karnataka State Cricket Association.
The judicial report also included the names of several police officers who were held responsible for not being able to control the situation, and as a result, the Karnataka Government has also issued departmental inquiries against them.
Committee not to spare KSCA President
Amid all this, the committee has also suggested taking action on the KSCA President, Mr. Raghuram Bhat; ex-secretary, A. Shanlar; the RCB vice-president, Rajest Menon; and the DNA Entertainment Networks Managing Director, T. Vekat Vardhan.
Also, the following police officers, Dayananda, Vikash Kumar Vikash, Shekhar H. Tekkannavar, C. Balakrishna, and A. K. Girish, have been subjected to sections that are mentioned in the report.
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