HC adjourns hearing against Rathore till Sept 29

The Punjab and Haryana High Court adjourned till September 29 the hearing on two fresh FIRs filed against former Director General of Police SPS Rathore in Ruchika molestation case charging him with serious offences like attempt to murder after the Central Bureau of Investigation again sought more time to file its reply.

On July 19, the CBI had asked for more time to conduct its probe after which Justice Sabina had adjourned hearing in the case till Monday. Rathore's counsel wife Abha pleaded before the court that the CBI should be directed to file the status report in the case at the earliest as it has already taken a long time to complete the investigations.

However, the CBI sought more time to file its reply following which the judge adjourned the hearing till September 29. The two FIRs registered by the CBI in January this year on the basis of complaints filed by Ruchika's father S C Girhotra and brother Ashu accuse Rathore of committing serious offences including attempt to murder, wrongful confinement, giving false evidence and doctoring post-mortem report of 14-year-old Ruchika.

Rathore's plea for quashing of the third FIR under section 306 IPC (abetment to suicide) had later been referred to a High Court division bench. Earlier, Rathore, has been lodged in the high security Burail jail since May 25, had filed another petition seeking quashing of the third FIR stating that the issue had been settled earlier even at the level of the Supreme Court.

The High Court is also hearing on day-to-day basis 68-year-old Rathore's revision petition challenging his conviction in the molestation case. Abha had on May 26 filed the revision petition in the High Court, a day after the sessions court here awarded him an 18-month jail term for molesting budding tennis player Ruchika.

Ruchika Girhotra had committed suicide three years after being molested by Rathore on August 12, 1990.