Chandigarh, November 17
Former Haryana police chief SPS Rathore received a fresh jolt on Wednesday when the Punjab & Haryana High Court called for the closure reports filed by the CBI in two cases and notings related to Rathore’s promotions from the Haryana government. The court asked the state government to explain how an officer facing molestation charges was promoted.

The development is a setback to the beleaguered retired police officer, who was sentenced in the Ruchika molestation case. Earlier this month he was granted bail by the Supreme Court and he came out of jail after spending six months in prison. The CBI had also filed closure reports in two fresh cases accusing him of abetment to suicide.

Rathore, 69, convicted of molesting Ruchika, was released on bail from the high-security Burail jail here November 12. He had been in jail since May 25. The CBI, having failed to gather any concrete proof against Rathore, had on November 10 submitted a closure report before a court in Ambala pertaining to two FIRs registered against Rathore on December 29 last year.

As a petition filed in public interest for comprehensive probe into the entire incident came up for hearing this morning, the “first” Division Bench of Chief Justice Mukul Mudgal and Justice Ranjan Gogoi asserted it wanted to go through the notings on Rathore’s service file relating to his promotion. As Rathore’s service file was with the CBI, standing counsel Ajay Kaushik was asked to furnish the notings. The Bench also issued a notice to Sacred Heart School and directed it to place on record the inquiry report on Ruchika’s expulsion from the institute. The posers and observations were made verbally by the Bench in the open court and are by no means the expression of final opinion in the matter. The observations come at a time when Haryana has been trying to salvage its image, claiming it was for the Centre to act in the matter. The next date of hearing is December 21. As city-based advocate-cum-petitioner Ranjan Lakhanpal presented himself before the Bench for hearing, the state counsel found himself looking for a plausible explanation to the posers. Raising the issue of closure reports, Lakhanpal asked the Bench to call for the same. Kaushik said they were willing to place the reports before the Bench. He added the CBI’s reply had categorically stated that Rathore was exonerated by the State of Haryana.