The Karnataka government has approached the High Court challenging the Central Administrative Tribunal’s (CAT) order reinstating Additional Commissioner of Police Vikash Kumar Vikash, who was suspended in the aftermath of last month’s deadly stampede at Chinnaswamy Stadium that claimed 11 lives and left 56 injured.
The state’s petition comes in response to the CAT’s July 1 decision, which termed Vikash’s suspension “mechanical” and lacking in substantial justification. The Bengaluru bench of the Tribunal, comprising members BK Shrivastava and Santosh Mehra, observed that the government had failed to furnish convincing evidence to warrant the suspension, and directed that the officer be reinstated immediately.
Challenging the ruling, the Karnataka government filed a writ petition before the High Court, arguing that the Tribunal had overstepped its jurisdiction by making determinations on the incident without the benefit of a complete departmental inquiry. The government called the CAT’s findings “perverse” and “contrary to established legal norms” governing disciplinary actions.
In its plea, the state asserted that it had submitted key material—including excerpts from the Karnataka Police Manual and a detailed timeline of the events of June 3 and 4—in a sealed cover to the Tribunal. It claimed these documents, which justified the suspension, were not duly considered.
“Despite placing material on record justifying the suspension, the Tribunal failed to assess it in the right perspective,” the petition said.
The state also noted that multiple inquiries—including a magisterial probe, a one-man commission, and a departmental inquiry initiated at the Centre’s behest—were underway, and that disciplinary proceedings were already in motion based on preliminary findings. According to the government, the status of these inquiries was orally conveyed to the Tribunal on June 30, a day before the order, but the final judgment made no mention of it.
In a further objection, the government criticised the Tribunal’s remarks suggesting reinstatement of four other officers—B Dayananda, Shekar H Tekkannavar, C Balakrishna, and AK Girish—who were also suspended after the stampede. It pointed out that these officers were neither parties to the case nor had challenged their suspension, making the Tribunal’s comments “highly irregular”.
The High Court is yet to list the matter for hearing.
