Bengaluru:

The submission was made as the court was hearing a petition filed by Sosale challenging his arrest on June 6. Sosale was arrested at Bengaluru Airport, as he was heading to Dubai, on an FIR filed in the aftermath of the stampede incident near M Chinnaswamy Stadium, which claimed 11 lives. In the Bengaluru stampede case, Karnataka High Court was told on Monday that the CCB officers arrested Nikhil Sosale, the marketing and revenue head of Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB), was arrested on the orders of Chief Minister Siddaramaiah.

Sosale’s lawyer had also argued that he was not arrested by either Ashok Nagar police (where Sosale stays) or Cubbon Park police (under whose jurisdiction the stadium falls) but by the Central Crime Branch of Bengaluru. "It was not part of the investigation, just because the CM said CCB arrested him, though they are not investigating the case," he contended.

When the petition came up for hearing on June 6 afternoon session, Justice S R Krishna Kumar, who heard the petition, had declined an interim relief from arrest and had adjourned the case to June 9.

Later, Sosale, along with three others from DNA Entertainment Pvt Ltd, were remanded to 14-day judicial custody by the Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate court.

Meanwhile, the High Court also confirmed that it will hear on Tuesday (June 10) the petitions of Royal Challengers Sports Limited (RCSL), owner of RCB franchise, and DNA Entertainment Pvt Ltd challenging criminal cases against them in the stampede incident. On Monday, RCB and DNA Entertainment filed separate petitions challenging FIRs against them.

Royal Challengers Sports Limited (RCSL), owner of Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB), has contended that it has been falsely implicated in the case. According to the petition, RCSL claimed that it had clearly communicated on social media that only limited passes were available. It also said that even for free passes, pre-registration was mandatory for entry.

It alleged that stadium gates, which were supposed to open at 1.45 pm, were actually opened only at 3 pm, causing a crowd surge. Meanwhile, DNA said in its petition that the incident occurred due to failure of crowd management by the police. It also claimed that most police personnel were posted at the Vidhana Soudha, leaving the stadium understaffed despite a surging crowd.

Advocate General Shashikiran Shetty requested the court to hear all the petitions pertaining to stampede case together on June 10. The court agreed to give time to file objections.

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