Chandigarh, June 4 (IANS) Disgraced former Haryana police chief S.P.S. Rathore, convicted for molesting teenager Ruchika Girhotra in 1990, will continue to be in jail till at least June 29, with the Punjab and Haryana High Court Friday adjourning his bail plea and revision petition.
The vacation bench of the high court said the case would now be taken up by another appropriate bench June 29. Till then, his bail plea would remain pending in the court.
‘The high court has adjourned this case till June 29. Now it would be taken up for regular direct hearing before another bench. The court has also summoned the entire trial court’s record for the scrutiny,’ Ajay Kaushik, a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) lawyer, told IANS.
‘Rathore has to remain in jail till June 29. In between, he cannot apply for bail in any other court as his case is pending in the high court,’ he added.
According to sources in the Burail jail here, Rathore, 68, is sharing a cell with seven other prisoners, most of whom are convicted cops. He is treated like any other ordinary convict and no VIP treatment is extended to him.
The former director general of police was convicted for molesting Ruchika Girhotra in 1990 in neighbouring Panchkula town. She committed suicide three years later.
Rathore was sentenced to 18 months rigorous imprisonment by the district and sessions court here.
‘I am feeling very happy and triumphant… Rathore’s lawyers tried their best to mislead the case by concocting false stories and evidence but at the end there is no relief for him,’ S.C. Girhotra, Ruchika’s father, told IANS after hearing of the decision to adjourn the bail plea.
Anand Parkash, the father of Ruchika’s friend and the main complainant, felt equally vindicated.
‘As the main complainant in this case, we are very satisfied as this case is going on the right path that is leading towards a logical end. Rathore’s lawyer tried to pressurise the court on the wrong grounds of his medical health. However, it is really encouraging to see that they failed to influence the court’s decision,’ Parkash told IANS.
‘Rathore’s actual place is only inside jail and he should not be allowed to move free in the society. He is still capable of interfering in the fair trial and of harming the people who are fighting this case against him,’ he added.
Parkash’s wife Madhu said that Rathore had forced an innocent teenager to commit suicide and he had become a threat for society. ‘He deserves no leniency from any quarter.’
Rathore’s wife and counsel Abha Rathore had May 26 filed a bail petition and a revision petition against the court verdict that enhanced Rathore’s sentence to 18 months from the six months given by the CBI court earlier.
They had sought the bail on medical grounds, saying Rathore had undergone a heart bypass surgery and required medical attention.
The high court had issued notice to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) seeking its reply on the matter.
