Indian Police Service (IPS) officer D. Roopa Moudgil received a notice from Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer Rohini Sindhuri for publishing “false and defamatory posts” against her. The IAS officer threatened the IPS officer with legal action if she did not give a written, unequivocal apology.
Their dispute began when Moudgil claimed that Sindhuri had posted her “compromising photos” on social media and forwarded them to senior officials. Sending her images to senior IAS officers, according to the former, was a violation of the service behaviour norms. The latter was also the target of 19 accusations from Moudgil, including many for corruption, in her Facebook post.
As a result of Moudgil’s comments, Sindhuri has now served her with a legal notice and asked for both an “unconditional apology in writing” and Rs. 1 crore in damages “for the loss of reputation and mental agony.”
“The comments/statements/allegations made by you have put our client and her family members to untold mental agony. It has ruined her image in her professional, personal and social life. She is spending sleepless nights as her moral uprightness, character and conduct have become the topic of discussion amongst one and all known to her and in the administrative/bureaucratic circle in particular,” the notice read.
It continued, “Though the damage caused to the image and reputation of our client cannot be measured and compensated in terms of currency, our client, however, restricts the same to a notional figure of Rs. 1,00,00,000/- (Rupees One Crore Only). You have made yourself liable to pay to our client the sum of Rs. 1,00,00,000/-(Rupees One Crore only) as damages.”
“If you fail to comply with the above demands, our client would be constrained to institute appropriate Criminal proceedings against you by filing an appropriate complaint before the jurisdictional Magistrate for an offence which is made penal under section 500 of the Indian Penal Code,” it warned.
In a recent Facebook post, Moudgil stated that she and her husband are together, and “fighting to keep the family intact.” She also urged the media to continue to highlight the corruption allegations she has raised against Sindhuri.
Both the officers belong to the Karnataka cadre. Basavaraj Bommai, the chief minister of the state, was compelled to intervene as a result of the nasty conflict. After their complaints to the chief secretary, the two female officers were transferred without posting on February 21.
