'Nirmala Devi has not entered Raj Bhavan in last 1 year'

Tamil Nadu Governor's Office on Friday denied any kind of acquaintance between Nirmala Devi, the professor accused in a sex scandal case, and state Governor Banwarilal Purohit.

"Truth is that Nirmala Devi (professor accused in sex scandal case) has never entered Raj Bhavan in last one year and she does not have any acquaintance with Honourable Tamil Nadu Governor or the Secretary to the Governor or any of the Officers," a statement released by Raj Bhavan said.

On October 9, veteran journalist Nakkeeran Gopal was arrested by the Chennai Police over a complaint filed by Purohit's office about his publication's reportage on the Nirmala Devi case. Gopal is the editor of a Tamil bi-weekly magazine 'Nakkeeran'.

Reportedly, the magazine run by Gopal featured pictures of Purohit and Nirmala Devi, an accused in the Madurai Kamaraj University sex scandal.

Gopal's arrest also invited criticism from Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) president and leader of opposition in the Tamil Nadu assembly MK Stalin who slammed both the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government at the Centre and the AIADMK government in the state.

Devi, a college professor, was arrested earlier this year for allegedly asking her students to extend sexual favours to university officials in exchange for financial and academic rewards.

The arrest was made on the basis of an audio clip of Devi's conversation with her students, where she also mentioned that she was close to Purohit.

However, Purohit clarified on April 17 that he had no involvement in the case. "I have not even seen her (Nirmala Devi) face till date, she hasn't met me," he had said.