Court defers Rathore's bail plea hearing

The Central Bureau of Investigation on Monday strongly opposed the bail plea of former Haryana director general of police SPS Rathore, sentenced to an 18-month jail term in the Ruchika Girhotra molestation case, before the Punjab and Haryana high court.

"Rathore must spend some part of the marginal sentence in jail like one-third of the total punishment given to him," CBI counsel Anmol Rattan Sidhu told the court.

"It was a two-decade-long battle. At least Rathore must spend one-third of the sentence in jail," he pleaded.

Ruchika, 14, a budding tennis player, had committed suicide three years after being molested by Rathore on August 12, 1990. A sessions court had on May 25 enhanced Rathore's jail term from six months to one-and-a-half years while allowing the plea of CBI and the Girhotra family.

Arguing the bail petition of 68-year-old Rathore, his lawyer-wife Abha contended that the "whole case is based on forged documents." She alleged that all the signatures of Ruchika on documents presented before the prosecuting agency during trial were 'forged'.

She contended that Anand Parkash, whose wife Madhu Parkash was the complainant in the case and S C Girhotra, father of Ruchika, had joined the case later.

She claimed, "All wrongs were used to get the sentence enhanced. Rathore never violated the term of condition and bail bond during the course of hearing in the case. He (Rathore) has been never held guilty of misconduct throughout his life. He is an honest man with a high moral character with exceptional record of integrity," she said.

"I have suffered the travesty of justice," Abha contended while pleading that Rathore should be released on bail.

The single vacation judge, Justice Ajay Tewari, after hearing the arguments for about an hour in the jam-packed court room on the revision and bail petitions of Rathore, deferred the hearing till Tuesday.

During arguments, the CBI counsel pleaded that it will take another day to file its reply on the revision petition and pleaded to the court to fix another date for the hearing. Sidhu said that the CBI had prepared a lengthy reply to the petition and that it would be sent by a special messenger to the court.

Abha also showed a map prepared by her on the situation at the time of the purported crime. "Rathore was sitting on one side of the table while the girls (Ruchika and prime witness Aradhana) were on the other. It is a built up story. Fifteen persons were present at that time and the room had glass windows, only 15 seconds were not enough to embrace her," she contended.

The entire case is based upon wrong facts presented in the court, she contended.

However, the CBI contended that at the time of the incident, many persons were present and many witnesses were examined.

"There was no person inside the room when Rathore outraged the modesty of Ruchika," the CBI counsel contended. He contended that Ruchika, her parents and others took up the case late as they were scared of Rathore's position in Haryana police at that time.

The CBI contended that the cross examination of Aradhana, the prime witness, ran into 152 pages. Sidhu questioned why a father will level false allegations when something wrong had happened with his daughter.

"The CBI has direct evidence against Rathore," he contended while elaborating that Rathore tried to delay the matter till 2009. Sidhu pleaded that the case be fixed for a date in the first week of July as he was scheduled to go abroad.

However, Abha strongly pleaded that the case be argued today itself. "Why should Rathore sit in jail because you (CBI counsel) is going abroad? You (CBI counsel) sit in jail," an infuriated Abha argued.

The judge asked Abha not to lose her temper and get aggressive. Abha pleaded that 'Rathore is not well' and urged the court not to adjourn the case.

"I have the right to seek the suspension of the sentence of the session court as it is my first appeal," she pleaded, while adding that "the whole case is due to the pressure of the media."

"Even phrases used by media like remorse and others were used in the judgment," she contended.

Rathore's lawyer wife Abha Rathore had filed a revision petition on his behalf in the high court on May 26 seeking bail, a day after he was sentenced and lodged in the high-security Burail jail in Chandigarh.