The following is the full text of the legislative brief for The Karnataka Crowd Control (Managing Crowd at Events and Place of Gathering) Bill, 2025, as provided in the source material:
PRS LEGISLATIVE RESEARCH Jahanvi Choudhary (jahanvi@prsindia.org) October 17, 2025
State Legislative Brief: KARNATAKA
The Karnataka Crowd Control (Managing Crowd at Events and Place of Gathering) Bill, 2025
Key Features
- The Bill requires a person to obtain permission for organising an event with a crowd of 5,000 or more attendees.
- The specified authority will conduct an enquiry before granting permission. It will prepare a security plan for the event and fix the duties of organisers and departments such as fire safety and health.
- Organisers are required to provide an indemnity bond of one crore rupees. They will be liable to pay compensation in cases of deaths or damage to public or private property that may happen during the event.
Key Issues and Analysis
- The Bill requires organisers to compensate for losses due to crowd disaster or civil disturbance, and this liability arises regardless of fault. The question is whether this is appropriate.
- The Bill exempts certain family events. The question is whether the exemption based on the purpose of the event alone is appropriate.
- Organising an unpermitted event is punishable with imprisonment between three and seven years, a fine up to one crore rupees, or both. There is a lack of guidance on determining the punishment within this range.
PART A: HIGHLIGHTS OF THE BILL
Context
The Bill aims to provide for effective management of crowds at events and places of gathering and to prevent unlawful gathering. It was introduced in the Karnataka Legislative Assembly in August 2025 and referred to a Select Committee chaired by Dr. G. Parameshwara for scrutiny.
Between 2013 and 2023, India registered 1,272 stampede cases leading to 1,394 deaths. While Karnataka registered cases in 2013 and 2014, none were registered between 2015 and 2023 until June 2025, when a crowd rush in Bangalore led to the death of 11 persons.
Currently, multiple laws govern crowd management, including:
- The Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023: Prohibits unlawful assembly of five or more persons.
- The Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023: Empowers police to disperse assemblies and allows magistrates to prohibit them.
- The Police Act, 1861 & Karnataka Police Act, 1963: Empower authorities to require licenses for public assemblies and maintain order.
- The National Disaster Management Act, 2005: Provides guidelines (issued in 2014) highlighting issues like casual permit issuance, lack of manpower, and use of untrained security. It recommended debating the legal liability of organisers and making insurance mandatory.
Key Features
- Permission for organising events: Permission is mandatory for events with a crowd of 5,000 or more. Applications must be submitted at least 10 days prior to the specified authority based on crowd size:
- 5,000 to 7,000: Officer-in-charge of nearby police station.
- 7,000 to 50,000: Deputy Superintendent of Police.
- More than 50,000: Superintendent of Police or Commissioner of Police.
- Role of the authority: The authority conducts an enquiry into organiser details, purpose, expected crowd, safety measures, and No Objection Certificates (NOCs) from fire safety, health, public works, and traffic police. Permission must be granted or rejected within four days. A security plan (scheme of bandobast) must be prepared.
- Role of the organisers: Organisers must ensure smooth crowd movement and sign a one crore rupee indemnity bond. They are liable for property damage or fatalities; properties of convicted organisers may be attached to compensate victims.
- Offences and Penalties:
- Unpermitted events: 3 to 7 years imprisonment, a fine up to one crore rupees, or both.
- Civil disturbance: Up to 3 years imprisonment, a fine of Rs 50,000, or both.
- Disobeying police directions: Rs 50,000 fine and one month of community service.
- Crowd disaster (crush/surge): 3 to 7 years imprisonment for injuries; 10 years to life imprisonment for fatalities.
PART B: KEY ISSUES AND ANALYSIS
Compensation payable by organisers
- Regardless of fault: The Bill imposes absolute and unlimited liability on organisers for loss of life or property damage resulting from civil disturbance or crowd disaster. This applies even if they were not negligent. The brief questions if this is appropriate, especially if an incident occurs at a rented venue that was certified safe by other agencies.
- Comparison with other laws: Laws like the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 and Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage Act, 2010 have different regimes for no-fault liability and often cap the amount or require insurance.
- No compensation for injuries: While providing for fatalities, the Bill does not mandate compensation for injuries, unlike the Public Liability Insurance Act, 1991.
Exemptions and Definitions
- Family events: The Bill exempts family functions like marriages held on private (including leased) premises. The brief questions if exempting events based solely on purpose is appropriate, as crowd management concerns still apply.
- Vague terms: The terms 'family functions or events' and 'mass gathering' are not defined. This could lead to disputes, such as whether a large Ganpati puja pandal hosted by a family counts as a private family event.
Legal and Procedural Concerns
- Wide range of punishment: There is no guidance on how a judge should determine punishment within the 3-to-7-year range for the purely factual offence of holding an unpermitted event.
- Offences by companies: Unlike the Disaster Management Act, 2005, the Bill does not specify which individuals within a company (e.g., directors or managers) would be held liable for offences.
- Indemnity bond: It is unclear under what specific conditions the required one crore rupee indemnity bond would be invoked.
This brief is based on the Karnataka Crowd Control Bill, 2025 and various referenced statutes and reports.
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