IAS officer Rohini Sindhuri seeks Rs 1 crore in defamation damages from IPS officer D Roopa

“From the course of your conduct in making the per se defamatory comments/statements/allegations, knowing and having reason to believe that the said comments/statements/allegations are false and far from truth, you have committed a serious offence, which is made penal under Section 500 of the Indian Penal Code. You have thus made yourself liable to be secured, dealt with and punished in accordance with law,” the notice dated February 21 read.

The notice was made public hours after Mysuru-based RTI activist Gangaraju released the audio of a purported conversation between him and Roopa. The audio claims a conflict of interest involving Roopa’s husband, IAS officer Munish Moudgil, during his tenure as commissioner of the Department of Survey, Settlement and Land Records. It is alleged that he had shared certain land details to help the real estate business of Sindhuri’s family.

The notice directed Roopa to apologise for having made the allegedly defamatory comments. The apology should be posted on the IPS officer’s Facebook page and shared with the media. She should also delete the Facebook posts about Sindhuri, according to the notice.

Roopa’s comments, as per the notice, had put Sindhuri and her family members in “mental agony”.

“It has ruined her image in 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 mental agony to which our client is subjected to is unimaginable besides being incalculable,” the notice further said.