Nirmala Devi, the main accused in the sex for cash scandal, was granted bail by the Madurai bench of the Madras High Court on Tuesday. This comes more than a week after the Tamil Nadu government had told the High Court that it had no objection to Nirmala Devi being granted bail. Noting down that there were no apprehensions that the accused will try to tamper the evidence on part of CB-CID investigation, Justice M Dhandapani granted conditional bail to Nirmala Devi.
Nirmala Devi, an assistant professor from Aruppukkotai Devanga Arts College, was arrested in April 16, 2018 on charges of attempting to lure four female students in extending sexual favors to some higher officials in MKU in return for better marks and financial benefits. An audio clip of her alleged telephonic conversation with girl students went viral on social media. The court granted bail after ascertaining that there were no apprehensions that the accused will try to tamper the evidence in the case.
It further restrained Devi from making any statements to the media. Devi approached the higher court after her bail plea was rejected multiple times by the lower court. The judges directed her to fully cooperate with police in the investigation and barred her from giving any interview to the media that would harm the probe. Earlier, her bail petitions were rejected by the lower court and the high court as well.