The suspension order, issued on 5 June, came a day after over 2.5 lakh fans swarmed the stadium area in response to RCB’s social media announcement of a celebratory event
Published Jul 17, 2025 | 6:26 PM ⚊ Updated Jul 17, 2025 | 6:26 PM
Vikash Kumar VIkash.
Synopsis: The Karnataka High Court on 17 July heard the state’s appeal against the CAT order revoking ACP Vikash Kumar Vikash’s suspension, issued after the Chinnaswamy Stadium stampede that killed 11. Senior Advocate P.S. Rajagopal argued Vikash acted without mandatory permissions, calling it a serious dereliction of duty during Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s IPL victory celebrations that drew massive crowds
The Karnataka High Court on Thursday, 17 July, heard the state government’s appeal challenging the Central Administrative Tribunal’s (CAT) decision to revoke the suspension of Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Vikash Kumar Vikash.
The suspension had followed the tragic stampede at Chinnaswamy Stadium that left 11 dead and over 50 injured during Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s IPL victory celebrations.
The matter came up before a Division Bench comprising Justices S.G. Pandit and T.M. Nadaf. Representing the state, Senior Advocate P.S. Rajagopal strongly defended the suspension, asserting that ACP Vikash and his team had failed in their duties by making security arrangements for the event without first securing mandatory permissions.
Bar and bench quoted Rajagopal as saying, “The obvious response from an IPS officer should have been: ‘You haven’t taken permission.’”
“RCB would then have had to approach the High Court, and the law would have taken its course,” Rajagopal argued
The suspension order, issued on 5 June, came a day after over 2.5 lakh fans swarmed the stadium area in response to RCB’s social media announcement of a celebratory event.
The state contended that police officials had acted on a proposal by the franchise even before the final IPL match was played, without clearance or coordination from higher authorities.
Rajagopal termed the failure to plan for such a massive turnout — in less than 12 hours — a “serious dereliction of duty.” Invoking Section 35 of the Karnataka State Police Act, he argued that the officers had adequate legal authority to prevent the crowd from assembling but failed to use it.
Challenging the CAT’s 1 July ruling, which quashed the suspension and reinstated Vikash with full pay, Rajagopal criticised the Tribunal’s sympathetic tone, particularly its observation that “police personnel are also human beings, not God or magicians.”
He called such reasoning “storytelling better suited for grandparents than judicial forums.”
The Tribunal had noted that the police had minimal time to react to RCB’s announcement and found no compelling evidence of negligence on Vikash’s part.
It stated that managing a crowd of 3–5 lakh people would have required far more preparation than was possible under the circumstances.
Following the CAT order, Advocate General Shashi Kiran Shetty informed the High Court on 2 July that ACP Vikash had resumed duty. The Court declined to stay the order but agreed to hear the matter in detail.
Rajagopal further contended that the state government had never instructed the police to organise the event, reiterating that they had all the powers necessary to prevent the tragedy but failed to act.
The hearing was adjourned till tomorrow.
(Edited by Ananya Rao)
