Patiala, Panchkula:
As the CBI comes under pressure to slap tougher charges on SPS Rathore, Jagdev Singh Dhanjal, the former CBI judge who tried the case, has come out after eight long years in oblivion.
"There were grounds to book former Haryana DGP SPS Rathore under Sec 306 for aiding and abetting the suicide of Ruchika Girhotra," says Dhanjal.
Speaking exclusively to NDTV, Dhanjal said that he failed to understand why the CBI had turned a deaf ear to the testimonies of four witnesses who claimed that Rathore drove Ruchika to her death.
(Read & Watch: The judge who tried to fight SPS Rathore)"The court (talking about himself; when he was the judge) failed to understand why the CBI turned a deaf ear to the statement of various public witnesses," he said.
Dhanjal, who tried the former Haryana top cop in 2001, says the CBI should have charged Rathore under section 306 for aiding and abetting Ruchika's suicide.
"Even CBI report says that after the occurrence of the incident, she remained confined to her house and remained depressed and later on committed suicide by consuming poison," he added.
Ruchika's family and friends even gave testimonies explaining how the trauma that followed her molestation eventually led to her suicide, but the CBI was not moved.
But in 2001, Dhanjal took note of an application moved by Madhu Prakash, a close family friend of Ruchika, and ordered the inclusion of Section 306.
Rathore's legal team, however, got the high court to strike that order down in 2002.
"We had to look for concrete evidence to prove abetment of suicide. But the girl committed suicide three years after the incident and there was no suicide note, no dying declaration," said Rajesh Ranjan, the CBI investigating officer at that time. Ranjan is now an IG in the Bihar police.
Judge Dhanjal was probably one of the victims of the Ruchika trial as well. Eight years after he gave his verdict, he's been reduced to practicing law at the Patiala courts. And while he still believes in his heart that he took the right decision, the question is, will the authorities take come corrective action as well?
Sources say Dhanjal had a good service record and had been a judge for 18 years before he was made a CBI judge. But three months after this judgement, his annual confidential report was downgraded.
Usually judges are given two five-year term extensions after 50 years of age, but Dhanjal never got one.
While public pressure has ensured that Rathore does not virtually walk free, the roles played by various other officials to scuttle the case cannot be overlooked.