The Supreme Court on Monday directed the Tamil Nadu government to protect expelled AIADMK Member of Parliament Sasikala Pushpa “so that no harm comes to her”, provided she cooperates with an investigation against her into allegations of sexually harassing a domestic maid and fabricating a vakalatnama in a case.
A Bench led by Chief Justice of India T.S. Thakur ordered Ms. Pushpa to be present before police stations investigating the two cases and “cooperate with the investigation”.
Ms. Pushpa’s lawyer and senior advocate Meenakshi Arora assured the court that her client was willing to abide by any conditions imposed by the court.
When asked by the court why she needed protection when she was already going to join an ongoing investigation which would ensure police presence around her, Ms. Arora vaguely said her client was not worried about the State, but “others who have different sentiments”.
The Bench directed the Tamil Nadu government to file its response and posted the case for hearing after six weeks.
On August 26, the Supreme Court had provided Ms. Pushpa with protection from arrest for a period of six weeks. It had expressed suspicions about the Tamil Nadu government's eagerness to see her behind bars.
Ms. Pushpa had moved the Supreme Court against a summons from the Madras High Court’s Madurai Bench to respond to an allegation of having played fraud on the court while filing an anticipatory bail application in the sexual harassment case registered by Thoothukudi police.
The High Court had directed the MP to appear before it on Monday (August 29) and explain how she could have signed a vakalat in Madurai on August 17 authorising her lawyer C. Susi Kumar to argue the advance bail application on behalf of her when the police claimed that she did not enter Tamil Nadu ever since the case was registered early this month.
The prosecution had said the joint anticipatory bail application was filed on August 18 as if the accused was present in Madurai. In response, the petitioners’ counsel had sought to withdraw the case.
However, turning down the request, the High Court had ordered all the accused, including Ms. Pushpa, to be present on August 30 to respond to the allegation.
Bench asks her to be present before police stations probing cases and cooperate with investigation
