The government will implement the recommendations of the one-man judicial commission report on the June 4 stampede at Chinnaswamy Stadium in a phased manner, home minister G Parameshwara said on Friday. The tragedy, which occurred during Royal Challengers Bangalore’s (RCB) IPL victory celebrations, claimed 11 lives and left over 70 injured. Stampede report recommendations to be implemented in phased manner, says home minister

The government’s decision comes a day after the cabinet formally accepted the findings of the report submitted by retired high court judge John Michael D’Cunha. The cabinet has now decided to initiate legal and departmental proceedings against several individuals and private organisations, including the Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA), DNA Entertainment Networks, and RCB.

“The government has primarily accepted the report by justice John Michael D’Cunha on the stampede tragedy. We will try to implement the recommendations one after the other. The ongoing cases against RCB and DNA will continue. The officers involved have already been suspended and subjected to one form of punishment. Now, the government has decided to conduct a departmental inquiry,” Parameshwara said, speaking to reporters in Bengaluru.

He added that the inquiry would be administrative in nature and handled internally by the state. “The decision has been made after internal discussions,” he said.

The cabinet note names KSCA president Raghuram Bhat, former KSCA president A Shankar, former treasurer Jayaram ES, RCB vice president Rajesh Menon, and DNA managing director Venkatavardhan as people against whom legal action will be initiated. While the cabinet did not outline specific legal steps, officials confirmed that action would follow based on the findings.

The report has recommended a series of measures to improve crowd safety at large public events. These include introducing conditions that must be fulfilled before granting permissions and issuing guidelines for crowd management. The state government has agreed to consider these suggestions seriously in its phased implementation plan.

Parameshwara clarified that the report does not name any political leaders, including Congress MLC K Govindaraju, who was removed as the political advisor to chief minister Siddaramaiah shortly after the incident. “The report specifically mentions RCB, DNA, KSCA, and certain police officers,” he said.

The government’s announcement comes amid growing political friction, with the Opposition BJP rejecting the findings of the commission. BJP leaders have accused the Congress-led government of attempting to sidestep accountability and using the report to shift the blame.

Leader of the Opposition R Ashoka said, “The state government should hand over this case to a judicial inquiry led by a sitting judge and deliver justice to those who lost their lives.”

Responding to the BJP’s criticism, Parameshwara said the government has always encouraged the Opposition to offer constructive feedback. “The BJP is in the opposition. We have always asked them to offer constructive criticism and submit suggestions, which we are willing to consider in the interest of the state and its people. They continue to criticise us, and we can’t help it. It is natural for the opposition to criticise the ruling party. We did the same when we were in opposition. I cannot ask them not to criticise,” he said.