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HC refuses to suspend jail term of ex-top cop in sexual harassment case
On June 16 last year, Das was convicted and sentenced to three-year RI by the chief judicial magistrate at Villupuram for allegedly sexually harassing a woman superintendent of police
The Madras high court on Tuesday declined to suspend a three-year jail term imposed on former Tamil Nadu special director general of police (DGP) Rajesh Das in a 2021 sexual harassment case and refused to exempt him from surrendering before the trial court.
A person holding “the pinnacle of the post in the police force” is expected to exhibit the “highest amount of discipline and integrity” but Das is “alleged to have conducted himself in an indecent manner,” Justice M Dhandapani observed while dismissing the plea filed by the former top cop.
On June 16 last year, Das was convicted and sentenced to three-year rigorous imprisonment by the chief judicial magistrate at Villupuram for allegedly sexually harassing a woman superintendent of police (SP). He challenged the order before the Villupuram trial court, which upheld his conviction and sentencing. In his plea before the high court, Das claimed that there were contradictions and lack of evidence and that the trial court order was “wholly perverse”.
“The contradictions pointed out on behalf of the petitioner are not fit enough to consider the suspension of sentence, but which could be weighed only at the time of hearing the revision,” justice Dhandapani said. “Therefore, this court is not inclined to grant suspension of sentence as sought for by the petitioner and, accordingly, the petition for suspension of sentence is dismissed. Consequent upon the dismissal of the aforesaid petition, the petition to exempt the petitioner from surrendering before the trial court is also dismissed.”
The judge further said that in cases involving outraging the modesty of women or indecent behaviour with women, “the courts should be very circumspect and slow while granting suspension of sentence to the accused, who have been held to be guilty through concurrent judgments of the courts below.”
Justice Dhandapani added: “The offence against women, girls and girl child is on the steep ascendency and this is causing a grave concern for a peaceful life in the society.”
The alleged crime took place in February 2021, when Das and the woman Indian Police Service (IPS) officer were accompanying then Tamil Nadu chief minister Edappadi K Palaniswami during an official visit to Karur. In her complaint, the woman SP alleged that Das, who accompanied her, harassed her in the car when they were travelling from Karur to Namakkal district on February 21, 2021.
After the incident came to light, it set off a political storm in the state, which was heading to the assembly polls. Das was suspended in March 2021 on the recommendation of the Election Commission of India.
Another accused in the case, D Kannan, the then SP of Chengalpattu district, was let off with a fine of ₹500 after being found guilty of preventing the woman SP from entering Chennai while she was on her way to then DGP JK Tripathy to file the complaint. The case was probed by the Tamil Nadu police Crime Branch-Criminal Investigation Department (CB-CID) on the direction of the high court after justice Anand Venkatesh took a suo motu cognisance of the matter.
In June 2021, CB-CID filed a 400-page charge sheet against Das and Kannan before the Villupuram’s chief judicial magistrate after questioning at least 87 witnesses and analysing his phone.
“When general public conduct themselves in an indecent manner with the women folk, it is the police authorities, who come to the fore to take action, thereby, the apprehension and fear of the women in such situations would be put at rest through the act of the police authorities. The police authorities are looked up in high esteem with regard to the discharge of their duties without any fear or favour,” justice Dhandapani remarked.
However, in the present case, the revision petitioner, being higher in the hierarchy in the police department is “alleged to have conducted himself in an indecent manner with his subordinate, including the subordinate being intimidated from not filing the complaint against him. The allegations are of such a serious nature and the offence alleged against the revision petitioner being of a grave nature, outraging the modesty of the women folk, definitely it requires to be handled not unlike other routine cases,” the judge added.
