Crowd control: SOP to be in force till law is enacted

The Karnataka High Court on February 23 (Monday) ordered that the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for Crowd Control and Mass Gathering Management be submitted to the court by the state government. friendly curiae and others will be implemented and operated until the government enacts a law on crowd management.

A Division Bench comprising Chief Justice Vibhu Bakhru and Justice CM Poonacha issued directions while disposing of the PIL petition. suo motu A lawsuit was filed by the court regarding the stampede that occurred outside the M. Chinnaswamy stadium on June 4, 2025, causing the death of 11 people.

Can renew the petition

However, the court released Senior Advocate S. Susheela, who was appointed to this post. friendly curiae The petition includes the option to renew the petition if needed in the future.

The bench closed proceedings on the petition after Solicitor General K. Shashi Kiran Shetty informed that the Ministry of Home Affairs had forwarded the SOP to the Secretary of the Legislative Assembly to submit it to the Parliamentary scrutiny committee for reviewing the SOP along with the proposed Karnataka Crowd Control (Management of Crowd at Events and Place of Assembly) Bill, 2025.

Pointing out that the measures presented in the SOP are much better compared to the provisions in the Bill, Ms. Susheela suggested that the legislative delegation may also consider the measures mentioned in the SOP while finalizing the Bill.

The state government had submitted the SOP for the court’s consideration last year and the Attorney General had agreed to seek recommendations from the court in December 2025. friendly curiae and various parties to the petition include the Karnataka State Cricket Association, Royal Challengers Bengaluru, DNA Entertainment Networks Pvt. Ltd. et al. The government submitted the revised SOP on January 13, which included many of its recommendations.

Application and digital portal

According to the SOP, organizers of any event likely to gather 1,000 or more people and parades involving more than 100 people will have to apply through the prescribed forms along with the crowd management plan in front of the designated police officer.

The SOP recommends setting up technological platforms and digital portals to apply for permission within three days from the date of application, obtain a no-objection certificate from various authorities, evaluate the application and take a decision on the application.

Social media restriction

According to the SOP, the event organizer shall ensure that no social media posts or publications in electronic or print media relating to the event are made in a manner that deviates from the terms and conditions of the licence, without prior approval from the licensing authority. The organizer will also be responsible for addressing and clarifying any misinformation or rumors regarding the event should they arise.

Refresher course

While the SOP deals with how law enforcement agencies should act for the conduct of events from the date of receipt of application to post-event analysis, it also requires all police personnel up to the rank of police sub-inspector to attend a mandatory annual refresher course on crowd management based on the SOP.

It is clearly stated that “nothing in the SOP shall supersede the law” and in case of any inconsistency, the directions given under the Disaster Management Act, 2005, orders of administrative magistrates, statutory orders under the Police Act will prevail.