Even the Karnataka government has approached the high court on Wednesday, challenging the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT )’s July 1 order quashing the suspension of senior Indian Police Service (IPS) officer Vikash Kumar Vikash. The officer has been suspended following the stampede outside the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru on June 4 that took 11 lives. It was a tragedy that happened at an unscheduled victory parade that was organised by the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB), when they won the Indian Premier League (IPL) campaign.
The matter was mentioned urgently by Advocate General, Sashikiran Shetty, before a division bench comprising Justices SG Pandit and TM Nadaf, seeking an early hearing. In the court, he submitted that on Wednesday, Vikash had reported in uniform after the CAT had passed its order on Tuesday. The court has adjourned the issue hearing to Thursday.
In its decision, the CAT called Vikash’s suspension mechanical and stated that the material support for the suspension was minimal. It rebuked the government for its failure to act by due process and reinstated him immediately as Additional Commissioner of Police. The tribunal also added that RCB did not inform the police of their celebratory procession, and through Instagram, was advertised as celebrating and not in coordination with the local authorities. It also pressurised the Karnataka government to reinstate four other police officials, including the previous Police Commissioner B Dayananda, who were suspended in the wake of the incident.
The appeal by the state questioned the validity of the order with the argument that the findings of the CAT were premature, and they were intended to thwart some continued magisterial and judicial proceedings. The request stressed that the reinstatement of Vikash will complicate the examination of the witnesses and threaten to interfere with the examination of the evidence. The government claimed that, though suspension was not arbitrary, it was on provisional findings/evidence laid down before the CAT in a covered sheet, covering a relevant excerpt of the police manual and the chronology of events.
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