Supreme Court Ends Madras High Court's Monitoring Of Sexual Harassment Case Against Former TN DGP Rajesh Das; Expunges HC Observations

The Supreme Court today closed the suo moto case registered by the Madras High Court for monitoring investigation of sexual harassment complaint made by a IPS cadre woman officer against senior Special DGP Rajesh Das. He presently stands suspended.

A Division Bench of Justices UU Lalit and Ajay Rastogi said further monitoring of the investigation, as earlier directed by the High Court, is not called for.

It also expunged several adverse observations made by the High Court against him.

The Bench was hearing a petition filed by the Das seeking transfer of the trial out of Tamil Nadu on the ground that a series of orders passed by the Madras High Court against him had prejudiced his chances for a fair trial. He had also sought to set aside all previous orders by the Madras High Court.

Background

In March this year, the High Court had taken suo moto cognizance of alleged sexual harassment of the alleged incident and decided to monitor investigation into the case itself. In its order dated August 2, the High Court directed that in any event proceedings be completed before December 20, 2021, without granting unnecessary adjournments. It was said that it would be the duty of the Police to summon the witnesses without causing any undue delay, the witnesses shall be cross-examined on the same day they are examined in chief unless such cross-examination cannot be conducted or concluded on the same day due to reasons beyond control.

Arguments

Senior Advocate Mukul Rohatgi, appearing for Das argued that firstly, the High Court did not need to take suo moto action to monitor the said investigation. Secondly, he submitted that it was due to the orders of the high Court prescribing strict time-bound guidelines that the investigating machinery was pressurized so much so that the charge sheet has been filed in the shortest possible time.

He also submitted that it was only due to the High Court orders that the Police Department suspended Das. Further, Das' attempts to implead himself did not meet with any success and the submissions advanced by him were not considered on the ground that the defence of the accused need not be gone into at the stage of monitoring the progress of the investigation.

"The nature of the order leaves no doubt as to what should be the final conclusion of the trial. The Learned Judge was not required to take suo moto. The complainant is an IPS officer and knows criminal laws and remedies therein. The earlier orders are a culmination of the mindset of the Court that my client is already guilty," Rohatgi said.

Senior Advocate Dushyant Dave, appearing for the State, argued that the intention of the High Court in passing the orders was only to monitor the investigation, not guide it in a particular manner. He also submitted that despite the orders, a trial court has to apply its mind and exercise judicial discretion based on the facts and circumstances presented before them. He, however, readily accepted that paragraph 7 (now expunged) of the order dated August 02, 2021, may need appropriate correction.

However, he submitted that there remains no need to transfer the trial and set aside all the orders, as they have outlived their life and have become infructuous.

Findings

Washing away the effect of paragraphs 7 and 8 of the order dated August 02, 2021, the Court observed that the matter should be considered by the trial court purely on its own merit without being influenced in any manner by all the previous orders passed by the High Court.

The Court further clarified that the charges might be framed by the trial court in accordance with law and not only as a result of the directions passed by the High Court. It disposed of the suo moto writ petition taken by the Madras High Court observing that no further monitoring is required.

The directions passed by the Supreme Court are as follows:

Case Title: Rajesh Das v. State of Tamil Nadu

Click Here To Download Order