In a high-profile legal tussle between two senior Indian bureaucrats, IAS officer Rohini Sindhuri has declined to settle her defamation case against IPS officer D Roopa Moudgil.
The Supreme Court, which was presiding over the matter, was informed that the parties have been unable to reach a compromise, necessitating the case to go to trial.
IPS officer Roopa D, has withdrawn a special leave petition she had filed last year in the Supreme Court over a defamation case filed against her by an IAS officer Rohini Sindhuri following a public spat on social media. D Roopa is a 2000 batch IPS officer while Sindhuri is a 2009 batch IAS officer.
The Supreme Court disposed of the special leave petition filed by the IPS officer on Thursday, stating that it was “dismissed as withdrawn”. The matter was disposed of by a bench comprising Justice Abhay Oka, Justice Ahsanuddin Amanullah and Justice George Augustine Masih.
The Supreme Court had earlier stayed the proceedings in the defamation case filed by the IAS officer Rohini Sindhuri against Roopa on December 15, 2023.
The Supreme Court had granted time to the two officers to reconcile their differences after the IPS officer voluntarily deleted offensive posts against the IAS officer on social media following the intervention of the Supreme Court.
Roopa approached the Supreme Court in October 2023 seeking the quashing of criminal defamation proceedings brought against her by Sinduri after a public spat on social media in 2023.
The Supreme Court gave the two government officers several opportunities to settle their differences and “work out a solution which will be in the interest of both.”
Sindhuri had sought an apology from Roopa for social media posts which the IPS officer removed after intervention of the Supreme Court in December 2023.
The Supreme Court stayed proceedings in the criminal defamation case filed by Sindhuri against Roopa in December 2023 in the wake of the IPS officer giving the court an undertaking that she has deleted all social media posts referring to the IAS officer.
The Supreme Court asked the IPS officer on December 14, 2023 to provide an undertaking on the deletion of the controversial posts or to express regret as a means for resolution of the matter.
The IPS officer filed an affidavit on December 15 stating that she had taken down all posts referring to Sindhuri in deference to the views expressed by the Supreme Court bench.
The Story so far
Earlier in August 2023, the Karnataka High Court had refused to quash the defamation case lodged by Sindhuri against Roopa. A single-judge bench rejected a plea by the IPS officer who then approached the Supreme Court.
Sindhuri has alleged in her defamation complaint that Roopa shared photos, made allegations on social media, and made statements in the media questioning her personal and professional conduct to tarnish her before the public and colleagues. The case was filed under the Indian Penal Code (IPC) Section 500 (defamation), seeking damages of Rs 1 crore.
The public spat between the IAS and IPS officers created a major controversy in Karnataka in early 2023 and left the two officers without postings for a brief period.
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