Amicus curiae expresses concern over holding IPL matches at Chinnaswamy stadium without enforcing SOP

The High Court of Karnataka on Friday sought a response from the State government on the suggestion made by amicus curiae that certain measures indicated in the draft Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for crowd management could be incorporated in the proposed the Karnataka Crowd Control (Managing Crowd at Events and place of Gathering) Act, 2025.

Senior Advocate S. Susheela, who is acting as amicus curiae in the PIL petition suo motu initiated by the court on the issue of stampede that occurred outside M. Chinnaswamy stadium on June 4, 2025, has told the court that the measures, proposed in the draft SOP submitted before the court, are much better than the provisions made in the proposed Bill.

Difficult without SOP

Also, Ms. Susheel said that crowd management could be difficult during the matches of the Royal Challengers Bengaluru to be played at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in the upcoming IPL-2026 tournament, in the absence of an SOP for crowd management.

The State government had revised its earlier draft SOP by incorporating certain suggestions given by her and other parties to the petition and has submitted a revised draft SOP as per earlier directions issued by the court, she pointed out to a Division Bench, comprising Chief Justice Vibhu Bakhru and Justice C.M. Poonacha.

As the Advocate-General was not available today, the Bench adjourned further hearing on the petition to February 23 asking the government to respond to the submissions made by the amicus curiae.

The State government, in response to court’s earlier queries about measures to be taken to prevent stampede-like incidents in future, had proposed the SOP for crowd management.