The Supreme Court on Friday requested former Supreme Court judge Justice Kurian Joseph to secure a permanent truce between IAS officer Rohini Sindhuri and IPS officer Roopa Moudgil, both of the Karnataka cadre. The two officers have been engaged in a bitter cross-defamation litigation following an ugly public spat three years ago.
Court's Observation
Observing that the officers were “destroying their own careers” through litigation, a bench of Justices Satish Chandra Sharma and Sanjeev Sachdeva told counsel for the warring civil servants to explore a mediated resolution to their quarrel. Lawyers for both sides accepted the court’s suggestion.
Mediation Process
Asking them to appear before Justice Joseph in July, the bench stayed proceedings before trial courts in the cross-defamation suits filed by the two officers against each other.
In February 2023, Roopa had posted a series of social media posts against Rohini, including disproportionate assets allegations. Rohini successfully moved court to restrain Roopa from making defamatory remarks.
Roopa’s challenge to the proceedings was rejected by the Karnataka High Court. On appeal, the Supreme Court had asked the two parties to resolve their differences. Rohini’s plea for quashing these proceedings was dismissed by the High Court and she filed an appeal in the Supreme Court, which on Friday appointed Justice Joseph as the mediator.
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