Hearing on fresh cases against Rathore adjourned till Aug 9

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The Punjab and Haryana High Court Monday adjourned till Aug 9 the hearing on the anticipatory bail plea of disgraced former Haryana police chief S.P.S Rathore in two fresh criminal cases. He is in jail for molesting teenager Ruchika Girhotra.

The fresh cases were filed against Rathore in December last year on the complaint of Ruchika’s family members.

Rathore, who was sentenced to jail for molesting Ruchika, is currently lodged in Burail jail here since May 25.

He was booked in two fresh First Information Reports (FIRs) under non-bailable charges like attempt to murder, criminal intimidation, forging evidence, wrongful confinement, fabricating false evidence and criminal conspiracy Dec 29 last year.

The FIRs were registered following fresh complaints filed by Ruchika’s father S.C. Girhotra and brother Ashu Girhotra.

Justice Sabina Monday adjourned the hearing till Aug 9 as Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) lawyers sought more time to file their reply. Earlier also April 5, the hearing was adjourned as the CBI had sought more time to complete their investigations.

‘We need some time to file our reply in connection with the anticipatory bail plea of Rathore. We will strongly oppose it,’ CBI lawyer Ajay Kaushik told IANS.

‘Our probe is still under process. We are taking time because this is a very complex case and we have to look into all aspects of this matter,’ he said.

However, Rathore’s wife and lawyer Abha Rathore Monday appealed to the court to direct the CBI to file the status report in the case at the earliest.

She said that the CBI was unnecessarily taking a long time to complete the probe.

Besides, Abha Rathore also moved another application in the court seeking early hearing in the case.

Rathore, 68, the former Haryana director general of police, was sent to jail May 25 after the court upheld his conviction in the molestation case by a CBI special court in December last year and enhanced his jail term to 18 months.

Following this, Abha Rathore filed a revised petition in the high court May 26 for suspension of the sentence.

The high court is also hearing his revision petition on a day-to-day basis.

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