CHENNAI: In a reprieve to suspended DGP-rank officer Rajesh Das, who is facing sexual harassment charges levelled by a woman IPS officer, the Madras high court has directed the state government to maintain status quo of the departmental proceedings initiated against him.
The government has issued a charge memo against Rajesh Das based on the report of the Internal Complaints Committee (ICC) of the police department.
Justice C Saravanan granted the interim relief on Friday, on a plea moved by the DGP challenging the proceeding and report of the ICC on grounds of violation of natural justice.
When the plea came up for hearing, advocate general R Shunmugasundaram contended that the DGP had moved the present plea only to delay the departmental proceedings against him. Since he said the state would file a detailed counter, the court adjourned the hearing by four weeks.
Earlier, representing the petitioner, senior advocate AR L Sundaresan argued that the Supreme Court and the high court had on umpteen circumstances held that not providing due opportunity of representation to a party to defend himself effectively during the inquiry proceedings and not providing a copy of the inquiry report would vitiate the entire proceedings.
He further added that two IPS members of the ICC - Seema Agarwal and Arun - were biased against him. Therefore, Rajesh Das had submitted a detailed objection and sought a reconstitution of the committee. But the committee proceeded with the inquiry and a report was forwarded to the state government on April 8, he added.
