The Calcutta High Court on Monday asked the West Bengal government to file an affidavit on the death of the popular playback singer, Krishnakumar Kunnath, popularly known as KK, who died on late May 31, 2022 after his stage performance at Nazrul Manch in south Kolkata.
A division bench, headed by Chief Justice Prakash Srivastava and comprising Justice Rajarshi Bharadwaj, directed the state government to file its affidavit within the three weeks. It also asked the government to be mindful so that such tragic incidents do not recur.
Three public interest litigations (PIL) have been filed by advocates Imtiyaz Ahmed, Soumya Shubhro Roy, and Syan Bandopadhya on the unfortunate demise of KK and in one, the petitioner has demanded a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into the matter.
It was alleged there was utter mismanagement at the last stage performance of KK at Nazrul Manch on May 31, where a crowd of double the auditorium’s seating capacity was present for the the live performance. It was also alleged that because of the overcrowding, the air-conditioning machines did not perform properly which led to suffocation within the auditorium.
A number of video clips were shown to claim that KK was feeling uneasy during the performance and it was also alleged that in the middle of the show, he took 10 minute break to go backstage for rest.
Challenging the demand for a CBI enquiry in one of the PILs, state Advocate General, S.N. Mukhopadhyay argued that since there had not been a single complaint from the family members of the deceased singer on this count, the demand for CBI enquiry does not stand valid.
Thereafter, the division bench directed the state government to file its arguments in the form of an affidavit.