HC seeks details of Rathore's promotion

HC seeks details of Rathore's promotion

The Punjab and Haryana High Court on Wednesday sought details from the Haryana government how disgraced former top police official S P S Rathore was promoted to the rank of DGP when a complaint of molestation was pending against him.

The direction came while hearing a PIL filed by a local advocate seeking a fresh case against Rathore for abetment to suicide of teenager Ruchika Girhotra.

The division bench comprising Chief Justice Mukul Mudgal and Rajan Gogoi also directed the CBI to place on record the final report it had submitted in the three FIRs against Rathore.

The bench directed CBI to provide notings on the service file relating to the promotion of Rathore as DGP.

The file is with the probe agency.

The court also issued notice to Sacred Heart school and directed the authorities to produce the inquiry report on Ruchika's expulsion from the institute allegedly at the behest of Rathore.

The lawyer had filed the PIL in December last year seeking a fresh case against Rathore under section 305 of the IPC (abetment of suicide of a minor or insane person) as Ruchika was a minor when the incident occurred.

Punishment under Section 305 includes death penalty or life imprisonment.

The PIL also sought strict action against the management of the Sacred Heart School for expelling Ruchika on illegal grounds.

It also sought appropriate action against all those officers who favoured Rathore and delayed the trial for almost two decades.

CBI had recently filed two closure reports in the Special CBI court in Ambala in two of the three fresh cases registered against Rathore.

The two cases related to the accusation against Rathore that he had doctored Ruchika's postmortem report and was behind the custodial torture of her brother Ashu.

The closure reports were filed before the CBI court in Ambala which has issued notices for 25th November to Ruchika's father Subhash Girhotra and her brother Ashu, on whose complaints the fresh cases were registered on December 29 last year.

However, the probe into the abetment to suicide charge is still on.

After spending close to six months behind bars, Rathore - serving an 18-month sentence in Ruchika molestation case, walked free on Friday last, a day after the Supreme Court granted him bail.

Ruchika (14), a budding tennis player, committed suicide three years after being molested by Rathore on 12th August,1990.

A sessions court had on 25th May this year increased Rathore's jail term from six months to one-and-half years while allowing CBI and Ruchika's family's appeal for enhancement of the punishment.

The Punjab and Haryana High Court had on 1st September dismissed Rathore's appeal challenging his conviction and the sentence, saying his conduct as a top official was "shameful".

The case will now come up for hearing on 24th December.