The Karnataka High Court on Tuesday raised serious concerns over the decision of the State Government to submit documents in a sealed cover in connection with the recent stampede incident outside the Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru. The tragic incident took place during the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) IPL victory parade, and the Court questioned why such important documents should remain inaccessible to the public.
Advocate General (AG) Sashi Kiran Shetty appeared before the Court and informed that all the required documents have already been made available to the amicus curiae. He also requested that the matter be taken up after 10 days, by which time the inquiry report of the magistrate and the judicial commission would be ready.
However, the Bench did not agree with the request and immediately questioned:
"Why should these documents be kept in a sealed cover?"
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The amicus curiae pointed out that there have already been several delays and strongly opposed hiding information from the public without a valid legal basis.
The amicus said, "Our justice delivery system does not accept the State's stance of disclosing documents after 10-15 days, it must be transparent." Highlighting the imbalance of access, the amicus further said:
"The information is available with the Lordship and no one else. The State has access to it. In such circumstances, the public must be carefully weighed in terms of proportionality, reasonableness and confidentiality."
AG Shetty responded by saying that the government was not attempting to hide anything, but was concerned about ensuring the fairness of the ongoing investigation.
"Our case is not at all that we do not want to give documents. The state will not be biased, but an independent investigation must be conducted."
He stressed that Karnataka had taken significant action in the case:
"This is a case where the state has taken more action than anywhere else in the country in a stampede case, your excellency. Heads have been chopped off."
The Court also questioned whether DNA Private Limited and the Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA) had filed their objections to the State's submissions. In response, the AG assured the Court that all documents would be shared, except those that are directly related to the ongoing investigation.
"We are not trying to hide anything," the AG clarified.
Taking note of the submissions, the High Court directed DNA Pvt Ltd to submit its version of events and ordered it to be provided to the amicus curiae. The matter has been adjourned for further hearing.
