SC issues notice to CBI in Ruchika case

The Supreme Court on Friday sought a response from the Central Bureau of Investigation on the appeal filed by former Haryana director general of police SPS Rathore, challenging his conviction and 18-month sentence in the Ruchika Girhotra molestation case.

A bench of Justices P Sathasivam and B S Chauhan issued the notice after senior counsel U U Lalit submitted that Rathore was innocent and the entire investigation conducted against him was vitiated.

However, at the outset, the bench told Rathore that he has to keep in mind that three lower courts had recorded an adverse finding against him.

"You have to keep in mind that the trial court, session court and high court in revision have analysed the entire material in detail and recorded the finding against you," Justice Sathasivam observed.

The bench also rejected the argument of Lalit that the fact-finding inquiry initially conducted by another IPS officer RR Singh failed to examine 12 of the witnesses reportedly present at the site where the alleged molestation took place.

"How is it relevant? Those people might have been at a distance," the bench observed while issuing a notice to the CBI for its response.