Supreme Court: In a petition filed by IPS Officer D Roopa against the judgment and order passed by the Karnataka High Court, wherein the Court refused to quash the criminal defamation case against D Roopa filed by IAS Officer Rohini Sindhuri, after D Roopa shared her personal pictures on social media and made corruption allegations against her, the division bench comprising Abhay S Oka and Pankaj Mithal, JJ. Has directed an interim stay on the criminal defamation proceedings.
Background:
On 18-02-2023, Rohini Sindhuri discovered that D Roopa had made several allegations against her in her social media posts. This led to a public spat between them, which prompted the State government to transfer both officers. Thereafter, Sindhuri issued a legal notice to D Roopa and demanded an unconditional apology and ₹1 crore in damages for the loss of her reputation and mental agony.
The Karnataka Court ordered the initiation of a criminal defamation case against D Roopa. Aggrieved, she approached the Karnataka High Court, which rejected the plea. Thus, D Roopa approached the Supreme Court.
Initially, the Court asked the two officers to resolve their dispute through mediation. Upon its failure, the Court directed Roopa to remove the objectionable posts within 24 hours. Further, directed her to file an affidavit detailing what kind of posts have been deleted and if for some reason, she could not delete the posts, to make a post clarifying that whatever has been said against Rohini has been withdrawn.
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Court’s order:
The Court took note of the undertaking given by D Roopa in the affidavit, wherein D Roopa informed the Court that she has deleted all her social media posts against Rohini Sindhuri, including those not related to the defamation case
Thus, the Court proceeded to stay the defamation proceedings as an interim measure and directed the parties to not give any interview or any information to the media, social and print, in any form.
The matter will next be taken up on 12-01-2024
Image Source: D Roopa IPS / Twitter.com
Advocates who appeared in this case :
For Petitioner(s): Senior Advocate Dr. Aditya Sondhi, Advocate-On-Record Shubhranshu Padhi, Advocate Niroop Sukrithy, Advocate Jay Nirupam, Advocate D.Girish Kumar, Advocate Aishwarya S.M, Advocate Meghana T.M
For Respondent(s) Senior Advocate Vinay Navare,. Advocate-On-Record R. Ilam Paridi, Advocate R.Vishnu Kumar, Advocate D.V. Sai Vardhan Reddy, Advocate Aman Kumar, Advocate Shashwat Singh, Advocate Vikhyat Oberoi
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