Bengaluru, June 10 -- Does a chief minister have the legal authority to direct arrest in a criminal case? This is a key question that the Karnataka high court sought to find out the answer to as it took up a plea on Monday filed by Nikhil Sosale, marketing head of the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB), challenging his arrest in connection with the June 4 fatal stampede near Chinnaswamy stadium.

Justice SR Krishna Kumar posed the question around jurisdiction, procedure, and political influence behind the arrest after senior advocate Sandesh Chouta, appearing for the petitioner, contended that Sosale's arrest on June 6 was "bad in law" and had been made solely on the orders of Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah.

"Does the CM have any such power? C...