KSCA officials quit hours after HC shield from arrest

Karnataka State Cricket Association's (KSCA) secretary A Shankar and treasurer ES Jairam have resigned from their posts, owing moral responsibility for the tragic stampede at Chinnaswamy Cricket Stadium here on Wednesday, hours after the Karnataka High Court granted them protection from police arrests.

In a letter to KSCA president Raghuram Bhat, they said they wished to own moral responsibility though their role was very limited.

The stampede and congestion near the stadium led to the death of 11 cricket fans and injuries to scores of others.


The resignations followed the state government launching a crackdown on the agencies involved in organising the felicitation events at the Chinnaswamy stadium after Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) won the Indian Premier League (IPL) title for the first time.

On Thursday, chief minister Siddaramaiah ordered the arrest of senior executives of RCB, KSCA and event manager DNA Entertainment Network.

Shankar and Jairam, along with Bhat, moved the High Court on Friday after the police charged the three organisations with culpable homicide not amounting to murder and other sections under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.

In their petition, the KSCA office bearers said the association was only a governing body of cricket in Karnataka with affiliation to the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). It has nothing to do with IPL events and Wednesday's celebrations were organized by RCB franchise and managed by its vendor DNA Entertainment Network, they argued. KSCA's role was limited to making the stadium and its infrastructure available to RCB and DNA.

The police, the petitioners alleged, registered the FIR against them under intense pressure and compelling circumstances without any preliminary enquiry.