M A I N   N E W S

Ex-DGP tries to delay the inevitable
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, May 25
The smile, the sulk and finally the tantrum. That is how the former Haryana police chief SPS Rathore’s mood swung for over an hour - from the time he left his home to minutes after the verdict was pronounced in a court bursting at the seams.

When Rathore emerged from his house in Sector 6, Panchkula with his advocate wife, Abha, his smirk was in place. He waved at journalists and photographers camping outside as he left for the court in a silver-grey coloured Indica.

In the court, they sat together and Abha Rathore called for security (two policewomen) inside the courtroom, possibly taken aback by the large media presence and expecting to be “hounded” once the order was pronounced.

Unlike on May 20, Rathore chose not to hide behind his sunglasses inside the courtroom.

The judge’s entry saw the former police officer at his ‘humble best’ as he bowed from his waist, a gesture that is common in places of worship. Wide-eyed, he watched in dismay as the judge dismissed his appeal and enhanced his sentence. And, then, his jaw dropped.

He stayed glued to his chair, alongside his wife, and refused to budge until he got a copy of the order. Agitated, he mumbled to himself, saying aloud, “The order has to be handed over to me immediately. It is my legal right.” An adamant Rathore asked policemen, waiting to whisk him to jail, to wait until he got a copy of the Order.

“How do I know if I have been convicted ? Give me a copy of the judgment,” he kept repeating.

When media persons asked him where his smile had disappeared, Rathore immediately put on a forced smile and said, “ I will continue to smile”. While Rathore refused to react, it was his wife Abha, otherwise a picture of composure throughout the length of he trial, who retorted, “ How can you harass him here ? You have already written enough about his smile”

And so he ,along with wife Abha, waited until the judge came out of his chamber once more. This time both Abha and S P S Rathore got up and asked the judge for a copy of the judgment. Gurbir Singh stated that it was not in the powers of this court to provide him with a copy. “ If you wish you can apply for a copy from the copy branch”.

A crestfallen Rathore then followed the CBI personnel to the prison.