The Karnataka Assembly has passed the Karnataka Crowd Control (Managing Crowd at Events and Venues of Mass Gathering) Bill, 2025, approximately two months after a stampede outside Bengaluru's M Chinnaswamy Stadium claimed 11 lives. The incident occurred on June 4 during a Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) felicitation ceremony.

The new legislation aims to ensure safety at mass gatherings and public events by regulating permissions, enforcing safety measures, and imposing strict penalties for violations. The bill establishes a legal framework to regulate gatherings at sponsored events and venues of mass gathering pertaining to political rallies, 'jatras', conferences, etc., and seeks to fix accountability on organizers.

Under the new law, event organizers are required to obtain permission from the police based on the expected crowd size at least 10 days before the event. The offenses listed under the bill are cognizable, non-bailable, and will be triable by the Judicial Magistrate First Class. However, cases involving fatalities in crowd disasters will be triable by a Court of Session.

The bill specifies penalties for various violations. Organizers holding events without the required permissions could face imprisonment of three to seven years and a fine of up to Rs 1 crore. Actions causing disturbance could lead to imprisonment of up to three years and/or a Rs 50,000 fine. In the event of crowd disasters, organizers could face a minimum of three to seven years of jail term for injuries, and 10 years to life imprisonment in case of fatalities. Disobeying lawful police directions could result in a Rs 50,000 fine and one month of community service for organizers.

The legislation also addresses compensation for victims. Event planners are responsible for paying compensation to those injured or to the families of those who died. In case of non-payment, the government is empowered to recover the amount as land revenue arrears, including the option of auctioning the event planner's property.

However, the Bill will not be applicable to family functions such as weddings held on private premises. Furthermore, certain events are exempted from the bill's purview, including religious and traditional gatherings such as 'jatra', 'rathotsava', 'pallakki utsava', 'teppada teru', 'urs', or any religious event pertaining to any religion, caste or creed.

The passage of the Karnataka Crowd Control Bill, 2025, comes after the government faced massive criticism following the Chinnaswamy Stadium stampede. The RCB's maiden victory in the Indian Premier League after 18 years led to a massive crowd of supporters gathering to cheer for the team, highlighting the need for better crowd management protocols.