VILLUPURAM: The Chief Judicial Magistrate Court here on Thursday adjourned the hearing of an appeal filed by former special DGP Rajesh Das against his conviction in a sexual harassment case to Friday. During the hearing, as none of his lawyers were present, Das requested the court to allow him to argue his own case, which Justice Purnima approved.
Das argued that the case itself was fabricated with an intention to put a black mark on his career. “A senior police officer was behind the case and the investigation was one-sided, in support of the complainant,” he said.
On Wednesday the court warned him of appointing a government prosecutor if the counsel again fails to argue on Thursday. The court had said Das was intentionally dragging the case and the counsel is not cooperating with the court.
In the case of sexual harassment of a woman SP in 2021, Villupuram Chief Criminal Judicial Court sentenced Rajesh Das to three years of rigorous imprisonment in June 2023. Das then filed an appeal in the District Principal Sessions Court challenging the sentence. However, his counsel continued to ask for time to argue in the appeal case even as the arguments by the government were over.