CHENNAI: The Madras high court on Friday directed the chief secretary of
Tamil Nadu CB-CID which is handling the probe into the alleged sex scandal in
Madurai Kamarajar University to file its counter in two weeks.
The first bench of Justice Indira Banerjee and Justice P T Asha passed the interim order and posted the plea to July 2 for further hearing.
On May 11, the high court passed an interim order indirectly restraining the circulation of the contents of retired IAS officer Santhanam committee report on the issue. The court ordered the government to keep the report in a sealed cover till further orders.
The court passed the order on a plea moved by the Revolutionary Youth and Students Federation claiming that if the Santhanam committee appointed by the governor was allowed to file its report on the scandal, it might dilute the criminal investigation carried out by the CB-CID. The federation sought to restrain the committee from filing its report till the CBCID concludes its probe.
On May 9, the court upheld the claim of Tamil Nadu Governor
Banwarilal Purohit that he has powers as the chancellor of state universities to appoint a probe committee to inquire into the alleged sex scandal involving assistant professor Nirmala Devi while refusing to stall the operation of the Santhanam commission. The court noted that it cannot interfere in the powers of the governor and dismissed a public interest litigation moved by Selvagomathy seeking to declare the committee headed by former IAS officer Santhanam as null and void.
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