The Karnataka government has informed the High Court that it will consider a fresh representation from IPS officer Vikash Kumar Vikash, seeking the revocation of his suspension and reinstatement, provided he submits a similar plea to those made by four other officers suspended in connection with the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium stampede case.
The submission was made by senior advocate P.S. Rajagopal, appearing as special counsel for the state, during a hearing on the matter. However, senior advocate Dhyan Chinnappa, representing Vikash, countered that the officer had already submitted such a representation.
Taking note of this, the division bench led by Justice S.G. Pandit stated that it would not pass any orders on the government’s petition until the representation is considered. The bench further warned that if no decision is taken by the next hearing date, the court would proceed to decide the pending petition on its own merits.
Earlier, on July 1, the Bengaluru bench of the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) had quashed Vikash Kumar’s suspension, which was imposed after the June 4 stampede near the stadium that claimed 11 lives. The state government has since challenged the tribunal’s order in the High Court.
In a related development, Royal Challengers Sports Pvt Ltd, the company behind IPL team Royal Challengers Bangalore, has filed a separate petition challenging CAT’s observation that social media posts by the franchise contributed to the crowd surge that led to the tragedy.
