Chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Monday said, “He (Sharma) has been relieved of his duty. If anyone in an important position commits any unlawful act or takes the law in his hands, action will be taken, irrespective of who the person is. Action would be taken.”
The video of Sharma punching his wife and pinning her on the floor, saying he was attacked with scissors, surfaced on social media around midnight on Sunday. On Monday, another video surfaced showing Sharma’s wife apparently finding him in the house of another woman, which is said to be the trigger for the violence that followed at the IPS officer’s home.
The wife has not filed a complaint and the administration said it can take action only when someone does. Madhya Pradesh home minister Narottam Mishra told reporters that he has watched the video. “If a complaint is filed, we will see,” he said on Monday morning.
Later in the day, Sharma was removed as public prosecution director, and asked to explain why action shouldn’t be taken against him. “Your unlawful activity and domestic violence against your wife are, prima facie, seen in the two viral videos concerning you. Explain why disciplinary action shouldn’t be taken against you,” says the notice issued to Sharma.
The first video is said to have been posted on social media by the couple’s son, an income tax deputy commissioner, who also reportedly filed a complaint with Mishra.
Sharma has not denied the authenticity of the video, but says it was a ‘scuffle in self-defence’. The 4.47 minute-long clip shows the couple’s pet dogs running around the room and barking furiously while two other men try repeatedly to intervene.
Sharma, a 1986-batch IPS officer, said it was his personal matter. “I have done everything that I could to keep my family united and I am still trying to sort out issues. But, if my wife and son think I have done something wrong, they can file a complaint,” he told TOI.
Bhopal ADG Upendra Jain said: “We have not received any complaint from anyone on the matter.” In 2008, Sharma’s wife had filed a complaint, accusing him of atrocities. Sharma retorted on Monday: “If at all she had a problem, why was she silent for 12 years?”
Taking suo motu cognisance, state women’s commission chairperson Shobha Oza urged the government to take strict action and register a case against the IPS officer. “If those tasked with ensuring law and order violate it, and a video of such an incident goes viral, the government need not wait for a complaint to take action,” she said.
