Bengaluru court asks telcos to preserve call records linked to IAS officer Rohini Sindhuri, IPS officer Roopa D dispute

A Supreme Court stay on the case was lifted last year after the two officials failed to arrive at an amicable settlement and Roopa withdrew her plea against the defamation case.

The magistrate’s court on February 15 also rejected an application filed by Sindhuri to do away with the process of being cross-examined by Roopa on account of a delay in conducting the examination.

After the proceedings resumed in the magistrate’s court earlier this month, Roopa moved an application seeking a direction to Airtel and Reliance to preserve the CDRs for two numbers linked to the IAS officer “for the period 15.01.2021 to 28.02.2023” on the grounds that they would otherwise be deleted by February 27, 2025.

While Roopa argued that the CDRs were relevant to the defamation case, Sindhuri argued that the case pertains to statements made on February 18, 19, and 22 in 2023 and that the CDRs have no connection to “the issue of whether the statements made by the accused were defamatory”.

The magistrate’s court ruled that “there are valid grounds to allow the memo for preservation of the CDR as prayed for…” and directed Reliance and Airtel to preserve the CDRs.

On Sindhuri’s plea to be discharged from cross-examination by Roopa – it was briefly started on February 5 but was subsequently delayed – the court ruled that “there is no grounds to discharge the complainant for want of cross-examination by the accused”.

The public spat between Roopa and Sindhuri on personal issues had created a controversy in Karnataka in early 2023 and left the two officers without government postings for a brief period.

In August 2023, the Karnataka High Court had refused to quash the defamation case, rejecting a plea by Roopa, who then approached the Supreme Court. “If the statements posted on a private account as well as the statements made before the print media are examined, I am more than satisfied that the petitioner/accused is bound to face a criminal trial. The question as to whether the posts made on a Facebook account and the statements made before the print media fall under exceptions is a matter of trial,” the high court had ruled in its August 21, 2023, judgment.

The proceedings in the criminal defamation case were pending in the magistrate’s court after Roopa moved the Supreme Court in October 2023. The Supreme Court stayed the proceedings on December 15, 2023, and granted time to the two officers to reconcile their differences. Roopa deleted the offensive posts against Sindhuri on social media following the intervention of the Supreme Court. Sindhuri, however, sought an apology from Roopa for the social media posts.

In November 2024, Roopa withdrew her special leave petition (SLP) at the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court disposed of the SLP stating that it was “dismissed as withdrawn”.