CAT Quashes Commissioner’s Suspension

The Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT), Bangalore Bench, on Tuesday ruled that the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) cricket team is prima facie responsible for the stampede that occurred near Chinnaswamy Stadium, which claimed 11 lives during the team’s IPL 2025 victory celebration.

The Tribunal also quashed the suspension of Bengaluru Police Commissioner Vikash Kumar Vikash, who had been held accountable in the immediate aftermath of the tragedy. After Senior IPS officer Vikash Kumar challenged his suspension at the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT)—one of five officers suspended after the Chinnaswamy Stadium stampede—the CAT bench stated that the other suspended officers should also benefit from this decision without having to pursue legal action themselves.

In its order, the CAT bench comprising Judicial Member Justice B K Shrivastava and Administrative Member Santosh Mehra stated that the police were not afforded adequate time to prepare for crowd management due to the sudden announcement of the event by the RCB team.“Police is not magician, can’t be expected to manage huge crowds if not given sufficient time to make arrangements,” the bench noted.

“Police personnel are also human beings. They are neither ‘God (Bhagwan)’ nor magicians, and also do not have the magic powers like ‘Alladdin ka Chirag’ which was able to fulfil any wish only by rubbing a finger. To control the aforesaid type of gathering and to make the proper arrangements, sufficient time should be given to the police. But the information was not given to the police,” the CAT stated, as per a report on IANS.