Chandigarh: A local court will hear on day-
to-day basis from May 3 petitions of disgraced former Haryana
DGP SPS Rathore challenging his conviction for molesting
teenager Ruchika Girhotra and of CBI and the victim`s family
seeking enhancement of his six months sentence.
The court will pronounce its verdict on the petitions
on May eight, Pankaj Bhardwaj, counsel for Ruchika`s family
told reporters here after the in-camera hearing for the second
consecutive day today.
Additional District and Sessions Judge Gurbir Singh
directed that the three petitions filed by Rathore, CBI and
Ruchika`s family and friends will be heared on day-to-day
basis from May three to May eight without adjournments,
Bhardwaj, who was accompanied by Anand Parkash and Madhu
Parkash - the couple who fought the Ruchika case, said.
Amid tight security following an earlier attack on
him, Rathore along with his counsel wife Abha reached the
court at around 11.30 AM. They were present in the court room
during the arguments which stretched for three hours.
Rathore was accompanied by a few Haryana policemen
provided to him. After the case was adjourned for May three in
the evening, Rathore came out smiling as usual and did not
respond to any questions from media.
The hearing on the appeals, which have been clubbed,
was adjourned following an attack on Rathore by a youth
outside the court premises on February eight this year.
The last hearing in the case was held on March ten
when the defence had asked for an adjournment saying their
counsel N D Sharma needed time to recover from the attack.
Sharma was also injured along with Rathore when a
youth Utsav Sharma had attacked the former DGP with a pocket
knife.
The former DGP was sentenced to six-month
imprisonment on December 21 last year by CBI Judge J S Sidhu
who had held him guilty of molesting a budding tennis player
Ruchika Girhotra, 14, at Panchkula near here in Haryana on
August 12, 1990 who later committed suicide.
The case had sparked a furore and the CBI and family
and friends of Ruchika had filed petitions seeking maximum
punishment of two years for the former top police officer of
Haryana.
Held guilty under section 354 of the IPC (molestation)
by the CBI court, Rathore was granted bail by Additional
District and Session`s Judge R S Attri`s court after his
appeal against the sentence was admitted on January 13.
During the in-camera proceedings only those connected
with the case were allowed entry.
PTI
