July 3, 2025

The Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) overturned the suspension of senior IPS officer Vikash Kumar Vikash regarding the tragic stampede outside Chinnaswamy Stadium that claimed 11 lives. The tribunal placed the blame on Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) for the unexpected congregation of a massive crowd. This incident occurred on June 4, leading to public outrage and swift actions by the state government. Following the stampede, Vikash, who served as the inspector general and additional commissioner of police in West Bengaluru City, was suspended along with four other officials, including Bengaluru (City) police commissioner B. Dayananda. The CAT, as a quasi-judicial body responsible for addressing officers' grievances, criticized the government for the hasty suspension order, emphasizing that police personnel are not divine beings or magicians. Instead, they are fallible humans. The tribunal pointed out that the suspension was not justified as it was based on inadequately short notice given to the police to handle the situation. It highlighted that the RCB's social media invites resulted in an unprecedented turnout of 3 to 5 lakh people outside the stadium, which has a capacity of only 35,000. The tribunal specifically noted that RCB failed to seek proper permissions for the event, putting the blame squarely on their shoulders for the ensuing chaos. The CAT panel, comprising judicial member Justice B. K. Shrivastava and administrative member Santhosh Mehra, stressed that adequate time should have been allotted to the police for making necessary arrangements to manage such a massive gathering. Vikash's appeal to the CAT mentioned that the suspension order did not provide him with a fair chance to defend his actions and highlighted the extreme measure taken without a prior show-cause notice, usually reserved for cases of severe misconduct. The state government's argument was centered on the police manual's emphasis on crime prevention as the primary duty of the police force. However, the tribunal raised concerns about the lack of policing observed during the lead-up to the tragic incident. It pointed out that the Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA) only submitted a letter without a formal request for permissions or logistical arrangements, leading to an unprepared response from the police. The tribunal concluded that there was no substantial evidence of negligence on the part of the police officers involved in the case at the time of issuing the order. It sent a clear message that police personnel should not be expected to perform miracles in such situations and that adequate time and resources must be allocated to them to ensure public safety.

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Tags: Bengaluru, Stampede, Suspension, Police, Rcb,