The Supreme Court on Friday appointed its former judge Kurian Joseph as a “mediator” to resolve the dispute between an IAS and an IPS officer in Karnataka who have filed defamation cases against each other.

A bench of Justice Satish Chandra Sharma and Justice Sanjeev Sachdeva noted that IAS officer Rohini Sindhuri and IPS officer D. Roopa Moudgil were “excellent" bureaucrats who were “ruining each other’s careers” through "mutual recrimination" in public and in courts.

“This court is of the opinion that the matter can be resolved through mediation. We hereby appoint Justice Kurian Joseph, retired Supreme Court judge, as mediator. The parties shall appear before Justice Kurian Joseph,” Justice Sharma, heading the bench, said.

As an interim measure, the bench said all further proceedings in the cases filed by Sindhuri and Moudgil shall remain stayed.

The court passed the directions while dealing with an appeal filed by Sindhuri challenging a Karnataka High Court judgment upholding a trial court’s decision to take cognisance of the defamation case filed by Moudgil against Sindhuri.

The high court had dismissed Sindhuri’s plea on the ground that the trial court had taken cognisance of the complaint filed by Moudgil after due application of mind. The high court noted that a coordinate bench of Karnataka High Court had refused to interfere with Moudgil’s earlier appeal challenging the parallel defamation case filed against her by Sindhuri.

The two officers have since 2023 been engaged in a public spat and levelled allegations of corruption and misbehaviour against each other.