'No settlement in Karnataka officers D Roopa & Rohini Sindhuri matter': Supreme Court allows defamation trial

New Delhi: In a rare personal battle involving Karnataka's senior Indian Police Service officer D Roopa and Indian Administrative Service officer Rohini Sindhuri, the Supreme Court was on Thursday informed that both of them were unable to reach a settlement and they would be proceeding for trial in the case.

With this, a three-judge bench led by Justice Abhay S Oka allowed Roopa to withdraw her plea seeking quashing of the criminal defamation case initiated against her by Sindhuri.

The bench, also comprising Justices Ahsanuddin Amanullah and Augustine George Masih, were informed that the parties were unable to reach an agreement to settle the matter.

Senior advocate Sidharth Luthra, appearing for Sindhuri sought personal apology on behalf of Roopa, who did not agree to it though her counsel senior advocate Aditya Sondhi emphasised at reaching the settlement. Both the officers were personally present in the court.

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 public domain against the respondent,” the bench asked Roopa's counsel.

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.

On this, the bench asked, "Your client couldn't move her grievance within the department?"

“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,” the bench quizzed the counsel.

Disagreeing with the suggestion of settlement, Sindhuri’s counsel Luthra submitted that immense damage was caused to the reputation of his client.

He said Sindhuri 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.

The bench 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, 2023, the 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 were engaged in a public argument after Roopa shared personal pictures of Sindhuri on social media platforms, accusing her of corruption.

Consequently, Sindhuri initiated civil and criminal proceedings against Roopa for defamation.