M A I N   N E W S

No immediate relief for Rathore
To remain in jail, case adjourned till Monday
Saurabh Malik
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, May 28
Haryana’s disgraced top cop will remain behind bars at least till Monday for molesting Ruchika, his daughter’s classmate.

As SPS Rathore’s revision petition came up for resumed hearing this afternoon, the former police chief’s counsel made attempts to build up a case for the suspension of his sentence on technicalities.

But the Punjab and Haryana High Court did not pass any order on the suspension of sentence and posted the matter for hearing on the first day of vacations, on Monday. Justice Jitendra Chauhan in all probability will now hear the matter. He, along with Justice Rajan Gupta, will be holding the court in single Bench during the vacations. But as Justice Gupta has been the senior standing counsel for the CBI, he is likely to recuse himself, even if the case is placed before him for hearing.

At the very onset of the hearing, Justice Gurdev Singh allowed complainant in Ruchika molestation case Madhu Parkash’s plea for being heard in the matter, in the absence of any opposition.

Represented by his wife Abha Rathore and another counsel, Rathore insisted the plea was filed against the enhancement of sentence by the court below. As such, it was their first appeal and Rathore was entitled for the suspension of sentence.

Vehemently opposing the arguments, Madhu Parkash’s counsel Pankaj Bhardwaj said the appeal against the lower court’s order did not lie in the matter, and it was a case of revision only. He said the special judge’s court, while passing the order, had decided three issues - Madhu Parkash and the CBI’s plea for the enhancement of sentence and Rathore’s plea against his conviction by the trial court. It could not be argued now that Rathore’s matter could be segregated.

In an assertive tone, Bhardwaj elaborated since all three issues stemed from the same judgment, it did not lie in the mouth to say it was the first appeal. Their first appeal had already been decided, Bhardwaj averred.

The case also saw the CBI complain about non-delivery of Rathore’s plea. Appearing on behalf of the premier investigating agency, Anmol Rattan Sidhu and Ajay Kaushik said on the previous date of hearing also they had brought to the court’s notice Rathore’s failure to supply the copy.

They added that complete set of documents had still not been made available to them. In fact, the special court’s judgment was not handed over. Accepting the documents in the court, Sidhu added they would get these photocopied at their own expense.

Before Justice Gurdev Singh adjourned the case, Sidhu said they did not even have the time to go through the plea, and needed more time to reply to the averments.