Chinnaswamy Stadium stampede: CAT revokes suspension of senior IPS officer Vikash Kumar Vikash

Bengaluru: In a relief to IPS officer Vikash Kumar Vikash, the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) has quashed the suspension order issued against him in connection with the June 4 stampede outside the M Chinnaswamy Stadium that claimed 11 lives.

A bench comprising Justice B K Shrivastava, Judicial Member, and Administrative Member Santhosh Mehra said that the suspension order was passed in a mechanical manner, not based on convincing materials and without any sufficient material or grounds. While allowing the application filed by Vikash Kumar, the bench also said that it expected the state government to extend the similar benefit (revoking of the suspension) to the other police officers suspended.

“We also feel our duty to draw attention of the State Government towards the settled principle of law that where a citizen aggrieved by an action of government department has approached the Court and obtain a declaration of law in his/her favour, other similarly situated ought to be extended the benefit without the need for them to come to Court,” the bench said.

Following the stampede during the celebration of the team Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) winning the Indian Premier League (IPL), the state government had issued the order suspending B Dayananda, (Commissioner of Police, Bengaluru City), Vikash Kumar, (Additional Commissioner of Police (West), Shekar H Tekkannavar (Deputy Commissioner of Police, Central Division), C Balakrishna (Assistant Commissioner of Police, Cubbon Park), and A K Girish (Police Inspector, Cubbon Park Police Station), citing dereliction of duty.

Inspector General of Police (IGP) Vikash Kumar Vikas.

Vikash moved the CAT on June 9 contending that no fault could be attributed to him. He further stated that the suspension order was issued without even issuing a show cause notice, thereby denying an opportunity for a hearing. Suspension is an extreme measure and should only be imposed in cases of grave misconduct, corruption and criminal negligence, he stated.

RCB responsible

After perusing the material, mainly the social media posts, the bench said RCB had placed the information to the public on social media platforms without the consent of concerned police officers. The bench noted that while the first of such posts received 16 lakh views, the second post received 4.26 lakh views and the third post received 7.6 lakh views and the fourth post received 17 lakh views.

“Therefore, prima facie it appears that the RCB is responsible for the gathering of about three to five lakh people. The RCB did not take the appropriate permission or consent from the Police,” the bench said.

The bench further said, “Police personnel are also human beings. They are neither "God" (Bhagwan) nor magicians and do not possess magic powers like "Aladdin ka Chirag," which could fulfill any wish by merely rubbing a finger. To control such a gathering and make proper arrangements, sufficient time should be given to the police.”