Govt may re-open Ruchika molestation case

The government may file fresh cases against convicted former Haryana police chief S P S Rathore if those levelling allegations desire to register a statement against him before the magistrate, official sources said.

The cases could be registered under Prevention of Corruption Act and for obstruction of justice against Rathore, convicted for molesting 14-year-old Ruchika Girhotra.

They said a case for attempting to bribe a public servant could be registered against Rathore provided former CBI Joint Director R M Singh, who headed the investigation then, give a statement under Section 161 of CrPC (calling of witness).

Singh had recently claimed that Rathore had tried to influence him and the investigation team.

"He (Rathore) even stated that he was going to bribe me also and offered all help when I was constructing my house," the former officer had alleged.

Singh had claimed that he had brought all these developments to the notice of his seniors and alleged that although Rathore tried his best to influence the probe, he was not successful initially.

However, when contacted, Singh told PTI, "I have not made any formal complaint...when it comes up, I will decide then."

The Home Ministry sources said the Ministry is also looking at the option of charging Rathore with obstruction of justice.

In the face of an unrelenting campaign, the CBI is consulting Union Law and Home Ministries on making an appeal for enhancing punishment for the former Haryana DGP.

Last week, Rathore got away with a light punishment of six months imprisonment after being convicted of molesting Ruchika in 1990 when she was 14 and a budding tennis player.

She committed suicide three years later after Rathore and his cohorts in police allegedly harassed her family.

The Home Ministry has called Pankaj Bhardwaj, Ruchika's family lawyer, to Delhi on Wednesday to discuss the strategy on how to pursue the case further while addressing the concern of miscarriage of justice.

On a day when a PIL was filed in the Punjab and Haryana High Court seeking reopening of the case and a ten year jail term for Rathore of charges of abetment of suicide, the CBI which prosecuted the case said in Delhi that it was in touch with the Law and Home Ministries on how to go about the issue.

"The matter is under examination. All aspects, including the one which has been highlighted by the press after the judgment, are being considered by our legal experts," CBI spokesperson Harsh Bahl said in New Delhi.