Illegal facilities for Sasikala in prison: HC quashes defamation case against IPS officer D. Roopa

Sathyanarayana Rao, a retired DG&IGP(Prisons) had filed defamation case as she had referred to speculations about allegation of corruption against him in the letter her writen to him

In a relief to senior IPS officer D. Roopa, the High Court of Karnataka has quashed a defamation case filed against her by H.N. Sathyanarayana Rao, a retired IPS officer, in connection with the contents of an official letter that she had written to him when he was in service.

She had, in her 2017 letter, referred to various irregularities at the Central prison in Bengaluru, and the speculation around allegations of corruption against Mr. Rao, who was then heading the Department of Prisons.

The High Court said that the defamation case cannot be continued as no prior sanction was neither sought nor granted by the competent authority under Section 197 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (Cr.P.C) to prosecute her for defamation under Section 499 of the Cr.P.C.

Also, the High Court held that the communication being purely official between the two people [Ms. Roopa and Mr. Rao when both were serving in the Department of Prisons] cannot be held to be defamatory as the contents would not attract provisions of Section 499 of the Indian Penal Code.

Justice M. Nagaprasanna passed the order while allowing a petition filed by Ms. Roopa, who is presently serving as the Managing Director, Karnataka Handicrafts Development Corporation.

She had questioned the legality of the order passed by a metropolitan magistrate on October 22, 2019 taking cognisance of the offence against her, based on the complaint by Mr. Rao.

Ms, Roopa, who was then serving as Deputy Inspector General of Police (Prisons), had on July 12, 2017 written an official letter to Mr. Rao, who was then serving as the Director General and Inspector General of Police (Prisons).