Bengaluru: The Karnataka High Court on Thursday sought a clarification from the state government on suspension of five police officers in connection with the stampede of June 4 outside the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore, killing 11 people, which questioned whether a millor action – is transferred to other positions – and more suitable.
A bench of Justice SG Pandit and TM Nadaaf said that the state would have to justify whether it was appropriate to keep the authorities under suspension, or, would it have been sufficient to transfer them to another post? “
The court had heard an appeal challenging the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) by the Karnataka government on July, which was challenging the suspension of Vikas Kumar Vikas, an officer of the Indian Police Service (IPS) on 1 July.
The Tribunal directed the state to restore the state “immediately”, not supported by “mechanical” and adequate content. It was also suggested that the government expands similar relief for the other four officers suspended along with Vikash, including the then Police Commissioner B Dayanand.
Urked the court to stay on the order of the tribunal, advocate General Sasikiran Shetty said on Thursday that the tribunal had worked in a hurry and had also increased to suggest the remaining four officers, which were not even parties even before, they were also reinstated.
Shetty said that the state was ready to show the court that all the five suspended officers were guilty of “insulting the duty” to. “I would be able to show from the record that the suspension order was appropriate,” Shetty said.
Shetty told the court that the Tribunal had given a wick relief on 1 July and reported duty in his uniform on July 2, to restore it without waiting for any formal order from the state.
However, the High Court said that it will listen to the matter on 9 July and until the next hearing, Vikas will have to show restraint and the matter should not be taken forward.
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Vikash’s lawyer, senior advocate Dhyan Chinappa assured the court that his client would “nothing” before the next hearing before the High Court.
Four other officers of Vikash and Bangalore Police were suspended on June 5, a day after the stampede. Vikas challenged his suspension before the tribunal, claiming that he was not responsible for the tragedy and the police had no prior information of the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) Indian Premier League (IPL) Vijay Parade, which triggered the stampede. It convicted RCB for announcing the program unilaterally through Instagram without informing the officials.
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In its order, the Tribunal stated that RCB announced free public entry, drawn huge crowds in the stadium, and formally failed to seek permission from the police or to coordinate with the officers for the victory parade and ceremony.
However, the Karnataka government has challenged the order of the tribunal, claiming that the suspension of the authorities was suspended while the magisterial and judicial inquiries were going on in the stampede, there was a possibility of adverse effects on the investigation. Visuk’s “attendance during this period can adversely affect the examination of witnesses witnesses” and can reduce the process of justice, the state has argued.
