The Karnataka government on Thursday justified the suspension of IPS officer Vikas Kumar in the High Court, arguing that the police officer and his colleagues acted like "servants of RCB" during preparations for the IPL victory celebrations. On June 4, 11 people lost their lives and 33 others were injured in a stampede during the celebrations.
The police had no plan.
Senior advocate PS Rajagopal, appearing for the state government, told the court that even before the final match of the IPL was played, Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) had submitted a proposal to the police officers in case of their victory. For an event attended by such a large number of people, the officers started security arrangements at their level without seeking permission or consultation from their superiors.
Rajagopal said- 'The most obvious response from the IPS officer should have been - you have not taken permission. Then, RCB would have had to approach the High Court, and the law would have done its job.'
Responsibility not shown
This failure to act responsibly led to operational lapses and serious dereliction of duty, he said. Arguing that it was impractical to make arrangements for a huge crowd in less than 12 hours, Rajagopal questioned what steps the suspended officer had taken during that time.
He cited Section 35 of the Karnataka State Police Act, which empowers the police to take necessary action, and criticised the officers for not exercising that power. Rajagopal said there was no consultation at the senior level.
Who was monitoring security inside the Chinnaswamy Stadium?
When asked by a division bench of Justices SG Pandit and TM Nadaf as to who was monitoring security inside the M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Rajagopal replied that it was the state police personnel and admitted that the security arrangements were inadequate.
He also questioned the Central Administrative Tribunal's (CAT) reasoning for revoking the suspension, particularly its comments sympathetic to the limitations of the police. The state government had challenged the CAT's July 1 order revoking Vikas Kumar's suspension.
The tribunal had concluded that there was no evidence of negligence and said the police had little time to prepare after RCB's sudden announcement on the internet media about the celebrations.
Karnataka government report blames RCB, organisers, and KSCA for the stampede.
The status report submitted by the Karnataka government in the Bengaluru stampede case has blamed RCB, event organisers M/s DNA Networks Pvt Ltd and the Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA) for organising a massive victory procession of RCB without prior administrative permission.
The report has been submitted to the High Court.
The report has been submitted to the High Court. According to it, the organisers never formally sought permission from the police for the event. On the other hand, the court clarified that merely giving information is not the same as seeking permission.
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