New Delhi: Indian Police Service (IPS) officer D Roopa and Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer Rohini Sindhuri, informed the Supreme Court on Thursday that they were unable to reach a settlement and they would be proceeding for trial in the case. After this, the apex court allowed Roopa to withdraw her plea seeking quashing of the criminal defamation case initiated against her by Sindhuri.
The matter came up for hearing before a bench comprising justices Abhay S Oka, Ahsanuddin Amanullah and Augustine George Masih. The bench was informed that the parties were unable to reach an agreement to settle the matter and they would be proceeding for trial in the case, after which the court allowed the withdrawal of the plea.
During the hearing, the bench questioned the intent of the IPS officer, behind the allegations made in her social media posts against IAS Sindhuri. “How is your client (Roopa) even concerned with making such posts in the public domain? Were you some investigating officer in any of such allegations you made in the posts made in the public domain against the respondent….”, asked the bench.
The bench suggested that parties can amicably settle the dispute instead of going through litigation, which can harm their careers as bureaucrats. The bench orally observed that senior bureaucrats are spending more time in lawyers’ offices than on their respective work.
Roopa’s counsel argued that his client was acting as a whistleblower against the wrongful acts of Sindhuri. However, the bench asked, "Your client couldn't move her grievance within the department", and further queried, “You decided to go one-on-one against her. Isn't this defamatory? You know every aspect of the criminal justice system, still, you did this?”
Disagreeing with the suggestion of settlement, Sindhuri’s counsel submitted that immense damage was caused to the reputation of his client. Sindhuri informed the bench that she was not keen on mediation and wanted the matter to be decided on merits.
The bench asked the parties to make another attempt to settle the matter. Justice Oka orally observed that if the court were to decide the matter, what good would it do to the parties? “Both are here in court, please take instructions as to what should be done”, the bench told the counsel of the parties and granted time to the parties to settle the matter amicably.
However, Roopa’s counsel informed the court that he would withdraw the plea, as the parties were unable to reach a settlement. After hearing submissions, the bench allowed Roopa to withdraw her plea.
In December last year, the apex court had asked IPS officer D Roopa to remove her social media posts against IAS officer Rohini Sindhuri. The apex court had issued the direction while hearing a petition filed by Roopa seeking to quash a criminal defamation complaint filed by Sindhuri.
Both officers from Karnataka engaged in a public argument after Roopa shared personal pictures of Sindhuri on social media platforms and accused her of corruption. Consequently, Sindhuri initiated civil and criminal proceedings against Roopa for defamation.
