Ruchika case needs to be revisited: Moily

NEW DELHI: As the Ruchika Girhotra issue kicks up a political storm, law minister Veerappa Moily on Friday said the case has been “mistreated” and needs to be “revisited”.

His comments come even as former Haryana chief minister Om Prakash Chautala, who was accused by Ruchika’s father of shielding Rathore, passed the blame on to the erstwhile Congress government in the state. Congress, on its part, said Mr Chautala was converting the issue into a political football.

The government, which had so far refrained from commenting on the case which has opened a pandora’s box on the justice system stirring a public outrage, finally broke its silence. “The case of this nature has been mistreated and whoever is responsible needs to be appropriately dealt with. And a case of this nature needs to be revisited,” Mr Moily told reporters.

The law minister said he had consulted the Solicitor General on the matter. “I have discussed it with the solicitor general of India and have asked him what could be done after this sentence. I told him to discuss the case with the CBI director also,” Mr Moily said.

Describing the delay of 19 years by the judiciary as “atrocious and unpardonable”, he said laws in terms of punishment also should be revisited. Cases relating to atrocities against women, senior citizens and disabled citizens will be fast-tracked, the law minister said. Mr Moily’s ambitious project for judicial reforms includes reducing the average span of litigation to three years. He said the new policy may be announced in a fortnight.

Meanwhile, defending himself, Mr Chautala said his government took immediate action against Rathore when a complaint was lodged against him 19 years ago. “He was made DGP during Bhajan Lal’s term. He was never promoted during my tenure. He was not given any special provisions. The moment the CBI report came before us, we suspended him. And this was the maximum we could do as the matter was subjudice. If I had acted further, it would have been considered contempt of court. The high court and the Supreme Court had also granted him relief, so why should I have interfered in the court’s judgments,” Mr Chautala said, a day after Ruchika’s father blamed the former chief minister and the entire state establishment for the harassment that drove his daughter to kill herself.

Mr Chautala said he did not recommend Rathore’s name for the President’s medal and that it was done as part of a “routine work” by the officers. Congress spokesman Manish Tewari said Chautala “is trying to convert the case into a political football. He should be ashamed of himself.” Describing his statement as “most unfortunate”, Mr Tewari said he was being “insensitive and callous” about the case.