Rathore's lawyer-wife in court: Fresh FIRs not legal

Panchkula: Former Haryana DGP SPS Rathore's interim bail ends today.

Arguing in court on Rathore's behalf, his wife and lawyer Abha Rathore said on Thursday that the fresh First Information Reports (FIRs) against Rathore were not legal, as these cases had been examined ealier too and the High Court and Supreme Court had quashed them.

She said the fresh FIRs had been registered because of media hype and that there was no evidence that Ruchika's brother Ashu was tortured or harassed. She contended that Rathore was being falsely implicated.

Abha Rathore is pleading for anticipatory bail for Rathore. Rathore was granted interim bail on last Friday after two fresh FIRs were lodged against him. Today, the Haryana government is to reply to the notice sent by the court on those two FIRs.

These FIRs were registered on two complaints filed by Ruchika's family against Rathore levelling various allegations, including attempt to murder and registration of false cases.

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Rathore had molested 14-year-old Ruchika Girhotra in August 1990. She killed herself in December 1993, after months of harassment that saw her being expelled from school and her brother allegedly being tortured.

Rathore's arrest now depends on the CBI, since the Haryana police has handed over the probe on the new FIRs to them. Rathore has the option of asking the High Court for bail.

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Since Jan 1, when Rathore was granted interim bail pending hearing on his anticipatory bail plea on the two FIRs, a third FIR  has been registered based on Ruchika's brother Ashu's complaint of abetment to suicide. Ashu has detailed the alleged torture that he was subjected to at Rathore's instigation and said it was this among other harassment by the former top cop that led Ruchika to commit suicide in December 1993.

The former policeman may or may not make a personal appearance on Thursday, but if he decides to ask for anticipatory bail in the third FIR on abetment to suicide, he will have to come to court. The maximum punishment under Section 306 IPC (abetment to suicide) is ten years imprisonment.

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Rathore was handed a mere six months of imprisonment by a CBI court in Chandigarh on the molestation charge.

On Thursday, meanwhile, the Punjab and Haryana High Court issued notice to the Union government, Haryana government and Rathore on a public interest litigation (PIL) moved by an advocate Ranjan Lakhanpal. The PIL has asked for reinvestigation of the case of driving a minor to suicide and the role of others who helped Rathore, including officers, politicians and the role of the school.

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The enquiry report on why Ruchika's school expelled her is also expected to be out today.

A month after 14-year-old Ruchika Girhotra was molested by a senior police officer, she was expelled by her school, the Sacred Heart Convent in Chandigarh. It shamed and depressed her, and Ruchika's family believes that it's one of the reasons why she committed suicide three years later in 1993. 

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The school has denied allegations that it acted on the instructions of SPS Rathore. Instead, spokespersons for the school say that Ruchika had not paid her school fees for several months.

But Ruchika's father, Subhash Girhotra, says he was not given any warnings about his daughter's overdue fees.