Chennai: The Madras high court has dismissed a public interest litigation, which sought a CBI probe into the complaint against professor Nirmala Devi, arrested on April 16 allegedly for luring college girl students into sex work.
A division bench comprising Justices R. Subramanian and M. Dhandapani dismissed the PIL filed advocate G.S. Mani, a practicing advocate of Supreme Court.
Citing a Supreme Court ruling on a similar issue that the probe, already being carried out by an agency, shall not be interfered with or transferred to any other agency for mere asking, the bench dismissed the PIL.
In his PIL, Mani submitted that Nirmala Devi in her conversation to the girl students had claimed that she has access to the Governor. Nirmala Devi lured the students into sex work. Meanwhile, reacting to the controversy, the Governor of Tamil Nadu had ordered probe by R. Santhanam, a retired IAS officer.
It was shocking and surprising that the order for judicial inquiry in a sexual matter in which his name was directly used for commission of offences involved in it. So, it was doubtful, the state police investigation and judicial inquiry ordered by the Governor will destroy the entire investigation and evidences. There was a bright chance of tampering evidences. Hence, the court monitored CBI probe was just and necessary, he added.
He said registration of a simple case for offences under section 370 IPC and 67 of the IT Act against Nirmala Devi, suspended by the management of Devanga Arts and Science College showed that the state government was trying to protect the accused, who were influential. Therefore, the case should be transferred to CBI, he added.
