The Karnataka High Court Thursday asked the state government to justify whether the suspension of IPS officer Vikash Kumar Vikash over the Bengaluru cricket stadium stampede on June 4 was warranted and whether a transfer would have been sufficient action.
The division bench of Justices S G Pandit and T M Nadaf sought clarification from the Karnataka Government in a writ petition filed by the state against a July 1 order of the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) to reinstate Vikash Kumar Vikash.
The Karnataka Government suspended three IPS officers, including the then Bengaluru police commissioner, after the stampede at the M Chinnaswamy cricket stadium, which resulted in the death of 11 fans of the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) who had gathered to celebrate the cricket team’s IPL victory.
On July 1, CAT’s Bengaluru bench quashed the Karnataka Government’s suspension of Vikash Kumar Vikash, an Inspector General of Police-rank officer. The Tribunal said the order could be applied to former Bengaluru police commissioner Dayananda, an Additional Director General of Police, and Shekar H Tekkannavar, Deputy Commissioner of Police, who were also suspended on June 5.
On Wednesday, the Karnataka Government filed a petition in the High Court to stay the July 1 CAT order and to also impose an interim stay.
During the opening arguments Thursday, Karnataka Advocate General K M Shashikiran Shetty argued that the CAT bench had gone beyond its scope in a case involving a suspension order by suggesting that it was RCB which was responsible for the Chinnaswamy stadium stampede and not the police officers.
“I think RCB should have also filed an appeal against this order. Ultimately, it is a suspension order, but the Tribunal comes to the conclusion that the applicant had no role to play. Not only the applicant but none of the police officers had a role to play, and it is because of the fault of RCB that incidents have taken place,” said Shetty.
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However, the bench pointed out that the matter needs to be heard by the court and sought an explanation from the state on whether the suspension was warranted.
“You have to justify whether the allegation required keeping the officer under suspension. The allegation says that the officer failed to manage the crowd, which amounts to dereliction of duty, according to you. Whether the allegation warrants suspension or the shifting of the officer to another post would have been sufficient,” Justice Pandit said.
Shetty sought an interim stay on the CAT order to reinstate Vikash Kumar Vikash. “The order asks for him to be reinstated in the same post, and, in fact, he turned up in uniform (at the police commissioner’s office) after the order to claim the post. We do not want to be in contempt of the court order. Let them say they will not precipitate,” the AG said.
The bench adjourned the hearing to July 9 after Dhyan Chinnappa, Vikash’s counsel, stated that the IPS officer “would not file any contempt (petition).” While adjourning the case without any interim order, the bench noted, “Senior counsel is making a responsible statement”.
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The Tribunal, comprising Justice B K Shrivastava and Santhosh Mehra, stated in its July 1 order that the suspension order against the IPS officers was passed in a “mechanical manner”, and there was no “convincing material for showing the default or negligence of the concerned police officers” at the time.
“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. Suddenly, they posted on social media platforms and as a result of aforesaid information the public were gathered,” the Tribunal said in a reiteration of the police FIRs.
“Police personnel are also human beings. They are neither god nor magician, and also do not have the magic powers like ‘Alladdin ka Chirag’, which was able to fulfil any wish only by rubbing a finger. To control the aforesaid type of gathering and for making the proper arrangements, sufficient time should be given to the police,” CAT observed in its order.
“The police officers have been suspended without any sufficient material or grounds. Hence, the aforesaid order is liable to be quashed,” the Tribunal said