A woman Superintendent of Police, who had levelled sexual harassment charges against an Inspector General of Police when she served in the Directorate of Vigilance and Anti Corruption (DVAC) last year, has approached the Madras High Court accusing Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami and Deputy Chief Minister O. Panneerselvam of attempting to shield the officer in the rank of IG since they were allegedly facing corruption charges.
Impleading the Chief Minister as well as the Deputy Chief Minister by name as respondents to her writ petition, the woman accused them of not removing the officer concerned from the post he was holding only to safeguard their interests as they were facing allegations of corruption. “The eighth respondent (the officer facing the sexual harassment charge) has not been arrested so far. No action is initiated against him. He is not even transferred... I submit that helping an accused to escape punishment itself is an offence. Respondents 11 (Mr. Palaniswami) and 12 (Mr. Panneerselvam) and other ministers (in the Cabinet) are facing serious allegations of corruption. Respondents 11 and 12 are interested in retaining the eighth respondent as Joint Director of Vigilance and Anti-corruption to safeguard their interest,” her affidavit read.
The petitioner insisted on a court-monitored investigation of her criminal complaint, now pending before the Crime Branch-Criminal Investigation Department (CB-CID), after appointing an investigating officer, who was in no way under the control of the State government. She also urged the court to order the removal of the officer, against whom she had levelled allegations, from the post.
Such removal should be in vogue until the completion of the investigation in the criminal case booked on her complaint, she said.
Her present writ petition is expected to be listed before a Division Bench of Justices K.K. Sasidharan and P.D. Audikesavalu along with a couple of related writ appeals pending in the court. The appeals had been preferred by the officer facing the sexual harassment charges.
