Bengaluru stampede: CAT quashes IPS officer Vikash Kumar Vikash’s suspension order
Bengaluru: The Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) has quashed the Karnataka government’s suspension order against senior IPS officer Vikash Kumar Vikash, who faced the action in the wake of a fatal stampede here last month. The tragic incident on June 4 in front of M Chinnaswamy stadium claimed the lives of 11 people, drawing sharp criticism over the planning and crowd management. Vikash had challenged the government’s June 5 suspension order before the tribunal, which also included the names of then Bengaluru Police Commissioner B Dayananda and DCP Shekar H Tekkannavar.
The Bengaluru bench of the tribunal comprising Justice B K Shrivastava and administrative member Santhosh Mehra, had reserved its verdict on June 24. On Tuesday, it set aside Vikash’s suspension. Vikash’s counsel, senior advocate Dhyan Chinappa, said, “The tribunal has allowed the petition and annulled the suspension, affirming that he is entitled to all benefits as per service rules.” The CAT also noted that its findings could be extended to the cases of Dayananda and Tekkannavar, opening the door for their potential reinstatement. Following the incident, the CM announced the suspension of Commissioner of Police of Bengaluru city Dayananda, Additional Commissioner of Police Vikash Kumar Vikash, who was in charge of the stadium, Deputy Commissioner of Police of central division Shekhar H Tekkannavar, Assistant Commissioner of Police C Balakrishna, and Circle Police Inspector of the Cubbon Park Police station A K Girish. The government had suspended the three IPS officers under the All India Services (Discipline & Appeal) Rules, 1969; while action against the ACP and PI was pursued under the Karnataka State Police (Disciplinary Proceedings) Rules, 1965.
According to the suspension order, the CEO of RCB had intimated Commissioner of Police, Bengaluru City on June 3 about holding the victory parade and celebrations on June 4. However, the office of Police Commissioner failed to give a written reply to the organisers, rejecting the permission on the grounds of lack of time to prepare for such a huge event. It said the RCB and Cricket Association tweeted about the celebrations and invited the fans to Chinnaswamy stadium without going through the usual practice of issuing tickets or passes. Despite being aware of the developments and expectation of a huge turnout of cricket fans by the police, steps were not taken to either have the event organized systematically at the stadium or give adequate information to the public to take necessary precautions for their safety or provide additional Police force for appropriate crowd management. Further, the situation was not discussed with the higher-ups for necessary guidance and advice on the matter. As a result, the situation went out of control and brought a lot of misery, loss of precious life and embarrassment to the Government, it added.
