Bengaluru: The Karnataka High Court on Tuesday (June 10) said that it would pass its interim order tomorrow after hearing the response of the State on a plea challenging the arrest of Nikhil Sosale, marketing head of Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB), in connection with the stampede incident that claimed 11 lives.
Justice SR Krishna Kumar said the court would pronounce its interim order after hearing the response of the State on questions raised by Sosale’s lawyer on legality of his arrest.
Sosale’s counsel has raised questions on his arrest on June 6 early morning and has said that his arrest did not happen in view of any investigation, but on the directions of the Chief Minister.
The counsel argued before the court that Sosale was not arrested by either Ashok Nagar police under whose jurisdiction he stays or Cubbon Park police under whose jurisdiction Chinnaswamy stadium falls but by the Central Crime Branch (CCB), submitting that CCB had no authority to arrest him as the probe was transferred from the CCB to CID on June 5 and he was arrested in the early hours of June 6.
Sosale’s counsel on Tuesday argued before the court that his client and the others arrested in the case had no clear role mentioned in the FIR and that the FIR just refers to entities and there is no naming of individuals. The counsel further questioned why Sosale and three others from event management company DNA were only arrests in the case and said that there are no ingredients of the offence present and the arrest seems arbitrary and selective.
The State, on the other side, defended the arrest and said the prosecution would produce documentation to justify the involvement of the CCB.
Advocate General Shashi Kiran Shetty, representing the Karnataka government, sought time to argue the matter and said, while opposing Sosale’s submission for grant of interim bail, that the state’s full response would be presented before the court the following day.
The court heard the submissions made from both sides and recorded that petitioner’s counsel had been heard in full. The court, while seeking clarity on certain points by the State, posted the matter for further hearing to June 11.
