The Karnataka High Court has quashed an FIR registered against a 22-year-old youth accused of reselling Indian Premier League (IPL) match tickets at a higher price. The ruling was passed on May 27 by Justice Suraj Govindaraj during the court's vacation sitting.
The case involved Somarapu Vamashi, who had been booked by Bellandur Police Station under Section 318(4) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS). He had purchased tickets for an IPL match between Royal Challengers Bangalore and Kolkata Knight Riders at Bengaluru’s Chinnaswamy Stadium. It was alleged that ten tickets, each originally priced at ₹1,200, were sold by him for ₹6,000 each.
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Vamashi filed a petition seeking to quash the FIR. He stated that he could not attend the match due to unforeseen circumstances and therefore sold the tickets. He emphasized that there was no law preventing the resale of such tickets since they are transferable.
The defense relied heavily on a precedent set by the Punjab and Haryana High Court in Mandeep Singh vs State of U.T Chandigarh and Another (2015 SCC OnLine P&H 1773). In that case, the court had ruled that reselling tickets where there is no legal restriction does not constitute a criminal offence.
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"This aspect has been considered by the Punjab & Haryana High Court, in Mandeep's case and the High Court has come to a conclusion that the proceedings cannot be allowed to go on as it would be an abuse of process of law," said Justice Suraj Govindaraj.
The Karnataka High Court found this reasoning applicable to the present case as well.
"Since there is no restriction on the sale of IPL tickets," the court concluded, "Criminal petition is allowed, the FIR is quashed."
Case Title: Somarapu Vamashi AND State of Karnataka
Case No: Criminal Petition No 7476/2025
Appearance: Advocate Kulkarni Ramesh Pampaji for Petitioner.
