Ruchika Case: CBI goes after molester Rathore

NEW DELHI: Public outrage over the Ruchika molestation case has forced the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to file an appeal in court seeking a tougher sentence for former Haryana police chief SPS Rathore. The agency said it is examining the possibility of applying abetment to suicide charges in the case.

As Ruchika Girhotra was 18 when she committed suicide, the agency has taken the decision to look at the applicability of Section 306 of the IPC, and not Section 305 which pertains to a minor.

The CBI spokesperson said that the decision to file the appeal had been taken after consultations with the home and law ministries on Tuesday and Wednesday. “It is felt that six months imprisonment and fine of Rs 1,000 is far inadequate specially when the chief judicial magistrate, Chandigarh, in his judgment concluded that the offence has been proved upto the hilt,” CBI spokesman Harsh Bhal said here.

The agency will file an appeal for the enhancement of the current six month sentence to Rathore under section 354 (molestation) IPC. The maximum sentence provided under this section is two years imprisonment and a fine.

But the CBI will file the appeal only after it takes a decision on the applicability of Section 306 (abetment to suicide) of the IPC, which carries a maximum of 10 years imprisonment. Legal experts of the investigating agency are examine the issue at this stage.

``As far as the applicability of Section 306 IPC in Ruchika case is concerned, the legal experts of CBI are examining the issue to suggest further course of action. The advice of the Solicitor General of India will also be taken before finalising the view of CBI on this issue,’’ the CBI spokesperson said.

There was some argument for the applicability of Section 305 as Ruchika was a minor when she was harassed for upto three years before her suicide. But legal experts have decided that only Section 306 would apply in this case.

Even as the CBI publicised the decision to appeal the sentence, home minister P Chidambaram expressed his unhappiness with the way the entire case was handled.

``As home minister, I cannot pronounce judgment in a legal matter. I am very unhappy with the way charges were framed, trial conducted and way the accused has been punished,’’ he said. Two fresh FIRs have been lodged, but these relate to harassment of Ruchika’s brother Ashu and the tampering of the post-mortem report.

Stating that the family of the girl had met him along with their lawyer on Wednesday, Mr Chidambaram said the family was now contemplating filing another FIR on the charge of abetment to suicide. ``I will look into what the Centre can do once that FIR is filed,’’ he said.

On why the Centre had not acted earlier against Rathore, Mr Chidambaram said the Centre came into the picture only upon conviction of the IPS officer. ``He is an officer of the Haryana cadre...the Centre does not come into the picture till he is convicted.’’

On allegations by R M Singh, the CBI official investigating the Ruchika case, who alleged that he was pressurised by Rathore’s aides, Mr Chidambaram said he would look into the allegations as and when he received an authenticated statement/complaint from Mr Singh in this regard.