In the latest development in the defamation case against former DIG Prisons D Roopa by her then superior officer ex-DGP Prisons H Satyanarayana Rao, the former has filed her reply to the court.
According to sources, the current IGP (Home Guards and Civil Defence) Roopa, in her reply, has maintained that she has not defamed Rao as she has never mentioned that it was he who took the bribe money.
IPS Roopa in mid-2017 had grabbed headlines after she unearthed a nexus between VIP prisoners like VK Sasikala, Telgi and prison officials for preferential treatment at Bengaluru’s Parappana Agrahara central prison.
In a report in July to Rao, Roopa had pointed out irregularities inside the prison and mentioned talks of Rs 2 crore being paid to unnamed prison officials as a quid pro quo measure.
After the report was leaked in the media, the state government decided to transfer both the officers and instituted an enquiry by retired-IAS officer Vinay Kumar.
HS Rao who retired the same day he took his new charge, filed a Rs 20 crore defamation suit against Roopa based on two media reports.
The source also confirmed, “The newspaper report in question also does not mention that it was HNS Rao who took the money. It is only the other media report, (which is also a party to the case) which is problematic.”
The source close to Roopa revealed that in her reply to the Rs 20 crore defamation, she had reiterated all the points included in her two reports to Rao himself. She had also mentioned about her submission in the Vinay Kumar investigations.
Based on the Vinay Kumar report, the state government has asked the Anti-Corruption Bureau to further investigate the matter.
The ACB, which reports to the CMO had filed an FIR against Rao based on the report in March.
In a submission to the Karnataka High Court, Rao has alleged that he was only following orders given by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah in providing special privileges to Sasikala.