Karnataka High Court Directs State to Submit Justice Kunha’s RCB Stampede Inquiry Report in Sealed Cover
Bengaluru: The Karnataka High Court on Tuesday directed the state government to submit the report of the Justice John Michael Cunha Commission, which investigated the RCB victory stampede incident near M. Chinnaswamy Stadium, in a sealed cover.
The direction was issued by a division bench comprising Justice Jayant Banerjee and Justice Umesh M. Adiga, during the hearing of a petition filed by Sunil Mathew, Director of DNA Entertainment Networks, who challenged the Commission’s findings submitted to the government on July 11.
Appearing for the petitioner, senior advocate Sampath Kumar contended that the one-man inquiry commission led by retired Justice Cunha had submitted its report without hearing the version of the petitioner. He alleged that the report, though not officially shared with them, was leaked to the media and contained adverse remarks damaging to the petitioner’s reputation.
Kumar argued that the scope of the commission was undefined and that multiple representations submitted by the petitioner to the commission had gone unanswered. He also informed the court that a Right to Information (RTI) application had been filed, but the report had still not been provided.
Responding to the bench’s query on how the media accessed the report, Advocate General K. Shashikiran Shetty stated that while the state has no objection to submitting the report to the court, it cannot be provided to the petitioner at this stage. He emphasized that the commission’s report has not yet been tabled in the Legislative Assembly, and a writ petition cannot be entertained based solely on media coverage.
When asked about the government’s timeline to table the report in the Assembly, the AG responded that no decision has been made yet. The bench then directed that the report be submitted in a sealed envelope by Thursday (August 8) and adjourned further hearing to August 7, clarifying that the petitioner will not be given access to the report at this stage
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