In the aftermath of the horror stampede at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru, the Karnataka High Court has admitted Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) Head of Marketing & Revenue, Nikhil Sosale, to bail but asked him to produce his passport. The action has been taken following a June 4 stampede during RCB's celebrations after winning IPL 2025, which killed 11 and injured more than 50 individuals.

The stampede took place outside the stadium following RCB's statement that fans could enter for free to celebrate the team's victory on June 4. The event witnessed lakhs of fans attending, causing stampede outside the stadium and resulted in 11 deaths and injured more than 50 individuals.

Nikhil, together with Sunil Mathew (Vice President - Business Affairs) and Kiran Kumar (Senior Event Manager) of DNA Entertainment Network, the event management partner to RCB, were arrested in the wee hours of June 6. Sosale was picked up at the airport by the Central Crime Branch. Another fourth accused, Shamant N.P. Mavinakere, who was a freelance ticketing executive, was also arrested. All four were lodged in Parappana Agrahara Central Prison.

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The FIR by police accused the organizers of the event of not being able to control the crowd despite being aware of the possible magnitude of attendance. The FIR added that the stampede was directly caused by confusion in managing entry.

The arrests incurred legal controversy, particularly following Sosale's lawyer questioning their legality before the Karnataka High Court. The defence claimed the arrests were politically motivated, basing their argument on purported orders from Chief Minister Siddaramaiah to arrest RCB officials. They further argued that the police lacked authority over the issue and arrested the concerned persons without adequate investigation or proof of guilt.

Justice S.R. Krishna Kumar of the Karnataka High Court ultimately decided in favor of granting bail to all four accused, including Sosale. The court, however, placed conditions, including requesting Sosale to surrender his passport to avert any possibility of absconding.