SC dismisses rape plea against IAS officer
In a major relief to Haryana IAS officer S N Roy, who was accused of sexual exploitation by a woman about two years ago, the Supreme Court of India has dismissed the complainant’s special leave petition (SLP) filed against the Punjab and Haryana high court order dated December 21, 2016 which too had dismissed her petition.
Roy, who is currently principal secretary, fisheries department, Haryana, has recently written to chief secretary D S Dhesi in the context, that the complaint filed against him by the Panchkula-based woman was nothing but an attempt to malign his reputation and extract money in connivance with some accomplices, as has now been upheld also by the apex court of the country. Roy’s communication was in response to the inquiry being conducted by the chief secretary after the complainant had lodged complaints to different authorities including the chief secretary. She alleged that Roy had been exploiting her for the past more than three years on the pretext of marriage after lying to her that he was divorced, though he lived with his two children.
Alleging that she knew Roy since 2008, the complainant said she was married, had a child and had separated from her husband. However, in his explanation to the chief secretary, Roy had held that the complainant was threatening to implicate him in a false case of rape if he did not pay her ₹10 crore. Roy has now written to the chief secretary that with the passage of time, the veracity of the said complaint and its various contents have been adequately inquired into by the agency of competent jurisdiction and adjudicated judicially by the courts of law, extending up to the highest court of the land, leading to consistent findings that the said complaint was utterly false.
Roy further held that despite the Punjab and Haryana high court verdict on December 21, 2016 in which it suspected that the entire exercise by the complainant was undertaken basically with the ulterior motive of blackmailing the accused, the said order was challenged by the complainant before the Supreme Court of India through an application of special leave to appeal (criminal) which was dismissed by the Supreme Court of India through its order dated April 17, 2017.
It may be recalled that the complainant had lodged complaints against Roy since February, 2015 and filed criminal cases in lower and high court. While a revision application was dismissed by the additional sessions judge-cumjudge special court, Chandigarh on April 19, 2016, it was challenged before the Punjab and Haryana high court in a criminal miscellaneous application.
IN HIS LETTER TO CHIEF SECY, ROY HAD STATED THAT THE COMPLAINT FILED AGAINST HIM WAS AN ATTEMPT TO MALIGN HIS REPUTATION AND EXTRACT MONEY