Bengaluru: In a significant setback to the Karnataka state government, the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) on Tuesday revoked the suspension of IPS officer Vikas Kumar Vikash, who was among the six police officials suspended in connection with the stampede near M. Chinnaswamy Stadium during RCB’s IPL victory celebration last month.

The stampede, which occurred on June 4, led to the tragic death of 11 individuals and left over 60 injured. Following public outrage and criticism over the failure to manage the crowd, the government had ordered a magistrate-level inquiry and suspended several officials, including then Additional Commissioner of Police (East Division), Vikas Kumar, and then Bengaluru City Police Commissioner B. Dayananda.

Challenging his suspension, Vikas Kumar had approached CAT. A bench comprising Justices B.K. Srivatsava and Santosh Mehra had reserved its order on June 24 and delivered its ruling today, directing the state to revoke the suspension and reinstate the officer. The tribunal also ruled that Vikas Kumar is entitled to all service-related benefits.

Senior advocate Dhyan Chinappa, representing Vikas Kumar, argued that the suspension violated service rules and lacked procedural backing. With this decision, focus now shifts to similar cases involving other suspended officers, including Dayananda and DCP H.T. Shekhar, which are currently under CAT review and may also see relief soon. The suspensions were executed under All India Services (Discipline and Appeal) Rules, 1969 for the IPS officers and Karnataka State Police (Disciplinary Proceedings) Rules, 1965 for the ACP and Police Inspector.With CAT’s order exposing legal and procedural lapses in the government’s handling of the disciplinary action, the episode has become a source of political embarrassment. It also raises questions about accountability mechanisms and the fairness of immediate punitive measures following high-profile public incidents.

However, on Wednesday the government approached the High Court challenging the Central Administrative Tribunal’s (CAT) order reinstating Additional Commissioner of Police Vikash Kumar Vikash, who was suspended following the tragic stampede at Chinnaswamy Stadium here last month, which claimed 11 lives and injured 56 others.

It contended that the CAT overstepped its jurisdiction by making determinations on the incident without the benefit of a full-fledged departmental inquiry. It termed the Tribunal’s reasoning as “perverse” and inconsistent with established legal principles concerning suspension.