The Karnataka High Court has taken suo motu cognisance of the stampede near Chinnaswamy Stadium on Wednesday, which resulted in 11 fatalities and numerous injuries during celebrations for the Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s IPL victory. In a significant order accessed by CNN-News18, the high court has posed a series of pointed questions to the state government and demanded a comprehensive status report detailing its responses. The court’s directive states that the status report, to be filed by the government, must specifically address when and by whom the decision to hold the victory celebration was taken and the manner in which it was made. It also requires details on the steps taken to regulate both traffic and the crowd. The HC further demands information on the medical and other facilities arranged at the venue and whether any advance assessment was made regarding the expected attendance. Crucially, the court has asked whether injured persons received immediate medical attention from experts at the venue, and if not, why not, and how long it took to transport them to hospitals. The court also seeks to ascertain if a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) exists for managing crowds of 50,000 or more at sporting events and similar celebrations and whether permission was sought to organise the event. The state government is now under pressure to provide detailed and satisfactory answers to the high court’s crucial questions before the next hearing on Tuesday. Chief minister Siddaramaiah said on Friday that his government has suspended the police commissioner and three other top officers. He asked the police to arrest representatives of Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB), DNA Entertainment, and the Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA) Administrative Committee. Retired high court judge Michael Cunha’s one-person commission will submit a report on the stampede in 30 days.