The Supreme Court has referred the dispute between IPS D Roopa Moudgil and IAS Rohini Sinduri for mediation. The Supreme Court appointed its former judge Justice Kurian Joseph as arbitrator. The Supreme Court again urged IAS Rohini Sinduri and IPS Roopa Moudgil to resolve the dispute and said, “Both are excellent officers, they are ruining each other's career.”
supreme court Ordered that both the parties will appear before Justice Kurian Joseph. As an interim relief, there will be a stay on further action between the parties in both the cases.
The bench of Justice Satish Chandra Sharma and Justice Sanjeev Sachdeva said that the Supreme Court is of the opinion that this matter can be resolved through arbitration. IAS Rohini Sindoori had filed a petition challenging the decision of the Karnataka High Court, which had upheld the order of the lower court, which had taken cognizance of the defamation case filed by Moudgil against Sindoori.
This is a matter related to the public dispute between the two officials in 2023. Expressing concern over this long-running feud, the Supreme Court today warned that the ongoing legal proceedings could harm the careers of both.
Actually, this dispute started from February 2023. When Sindoori came to know that Moudgil had made many allegations against her in the Facebook post. In these posts, Moudgil had allegedly accused Sindoori of sharing his personal photos with fellow IAS officers.
Among other allegations, the post claimed that Sinduri had built a large bungalow in Jalahalli, but had not disclosed the same in the immovable property return filed periodically by All India Service officials.
Sinduri then filed a civil defamation suit against Moudgil, seeking a permanent restraining order from making the allegedly false and defamatory statements. The civil court gave an interim order.
He also filed a private criminal complaint under Section 500 of the Indian Penal Code, after which the trial court took cognizance. Moudgil challenged those proceedings in the High Court, but his petition was rejected. The Supreme Court later encouraged the parties to settle and directed Moudgil to remove the allegedly defamatory social media posts. The posts were later deleted and the proceedings in the Supreme Court were withdrawn.
After those proceedings were withdrawn, Moudgil filed a fresh complaint on December 9, 2024, alleging that Sindoori had also made derogatory comments against him, including calling him mentally unsound or sick.
The magistrate issued notice to Sindoori, considered her reply and then took cognizance and issued process. Sinduri challenged those proceedings in the Karnataka High Court. The High Court had earlier also given time to the parties for settlement, but no solution could be found. Ultimately he rejected his petition. In this way he filed the present SLP in the Supreme Court.
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