Chandigarh, February 5
The counter appeal filed by the CBI for the enhancement of former Haryana DGP SPS Rathore’s sentence in the Ruchika Girhotra case has been committed to the court of Additional District and Sessions Judge Raj Shekhar Attri. It will be taken up for hearing on February 8. It will be simultaneously heard with the appeal filed by Rathore against his conviction.
The CBI’s special public prosecutor Pawan Dogra and Chander Dutt had filed the appeal in the court of District and Session Judge KK Garg yesterday, seeking exemplary punishment for Rathore.
The appeal has the trial court judgment and a detailed time-sheet on the progress of proceedings.
The reason mentioned for the enhancement was that the sentence given to Rathore was not adequate as the offence is a serious one, one which involves moral turpitude; and it resulted in a suicide by a minor girl. It also mentioned that Rathore was one of the top police officers at the time and his work was to provide security for the citizens but he misused his official position. Seeking maximum punishment for Rathore, the appeal
states that the act was not at the spur of the moment but pre-planned. After the victim submitted the memorandum, Rathore unleashed a reign of terror on probable witnesses so that they refrained themselves from pursuing the matter further. The sentence awarded to Rathore is grossly inadequate and should be enhanced to maximum extent provided under Section 354 of IPC, the appeal stated.
Earlier, Rathore had challenged orders of the trial court. He had also sought a reinvestigation into the alleged fabrication of documents for implicating him in the Ruchika case.
