HC extends Rathore's bail plea till Jan 25

The Punjab and Haryana high court on Monday extended the two anticipatory bail applications and a petition demanding cancellation of abetment to suicide charges against former Haryana Director General of Police SPS Rathore, in connection with the Ruchika Girhotra molestation case, till January 25.

The high court had earlier on January 12 rejected the interim bail plea of Rathore, and asked the Central Bureau of Investigation to file its reply in the case by January 18.
 
The CBI had on January 12 taken over the case and begun its investigation into all the three fresh FIRs filed against Rathore, leveling various allegations, including attempt to murder, abetment to suicide and doctoring the post mortem report and other documents.

A CBI team had on January 15 called upon Ruchika's father Subhash Chander Girhotra along with her friend Aradhana's father Anand Prakash at their Chandigarh camp office, and held a formal interaction with them in order to acquaint themselves with the case.

The former top cop molested 14-year old Ruchika Girhotra, a budding young tennis star, in 1990.

Rathore has three cases pending against him in the court; all filed by Ruchika's family and friends.

Ruchika's family lawyer Pankaj Bharadwaj had earlier filed two FIRs against Rathore. The lawyer had claimed that the first FIR was filed for forging documents like the inquest report and the other for the illegal detention of Ruchika's brother Ashu.

The third case is that of abetment to suicide against him. The family has claimed that Ruchika was expelled from the prestigious Sacred Heart Convent in Chandigarh due to Rathore's influence.

Ruchika had killed herself three years after the incident by drinking poison.

The CBI is investigating whether Rathore drove Ruchika to suicide after she filed molestation charges. An inquiry by the Chandigarh administration has found that Ruchika was unfairly expelled from her school in 1990. The report also concluded that the expulsion took place under pressure from 'an external influence'.

The Special CBI court had earlier held the former cop guilty under Section 354 of the Indian Penal Code and sentenced him to six months imprisonment.