The Supreme Court on Friday (June 12, 2026) directed Karnataka IPS officer D. Roopa Moudgil and IAS officer Rohini Sindhuri to attempt resolution of their long-running dispute through mediation, observing that their inability to arrive at a conciliatory settlement was “destroying” their careers.

A Bench of Justices Satish Chandra Sharma and Sanjeev Sachdeva appointed former Supreme Court judge Justice (retired) Kurian Joseph as mediator to facilitate a settlement between the two officers.

“Both of them are destroying each other’s careers... In the present case, this court is of the opinion that the matter can be resolved by way of mediation. Justice Kurian Joseph, a retired Supreme Court judge, is appointed as the mediator. The parties shall appear before Justice Kurian Joseph,” the Bench said.

The court’s intervention comes more than three years after a public spat between the two senior Karnataka officers culminated in defamation proceedings against each other and claims for damages of ₹1 crore.

In February, the Karnataka High Court dismissed a petition filed by Ms. Sindhuri challenging criminal defamation proceedings initiated on a complaint lodged by Ms. Moudgil. The High Court upheld the trial court’s order taking cognisance of Ms. Moudgil’s complaint, observing that it was “meticulous and exhaustive” and did not warrant interference.

Earlier, the top court had directed Ms. Moudgil to remove social media posts concerning Ms. Sindhuri after a previous attempt at mediation failed.

“I have taken down the posts/statements with respect to the respondent from my Facebook/social media account profile,” Ms. Moudgil had stated in an affidavit filed before the court. “Though the respondent had objected to only some specific posts of mine in her complaint, in due deference to the observations of this Hon’ble Court, I have taken down all the posts with respect to the respondent,” the affidavit had added.

According to Ms. Sindhuri, Ms. Moudgil shared photographs, made allegations on social media and issued statements to the media questioning her personal and professional conduct with the intent of damaging her reputation among colleagues and the public. The complaint was filed under Section 500 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) dealing with defamation and sought damages of ₹1 crore.

The dispute first came into the public domain in 2023 after Ms. Moudgil levelled a series of allegations against Ms. Sindhuri. The IAS officer denied the allegations and accused the IPS officer of carrying out a false and personal vilification campaign. She had also sought an unconditional written apology and damages of ₹1 crore for the alleged loss of reputation and mental agony caused by the statements.