Chandigarh : SPS Rathore, former Haryana top cop convicted in the molestation of late Ruchika Girhotra, walked out of a jail in Chandigarh grinning,, after spending nearly six months in the prison.
Rathore, who was cleared of the abetment to suicide to the budding tennis player Ruchika by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), came out of the Burail Jail in the evening and left for his house, about 15 km from the jail.
His wife had come to receive him in a car.
The Supreme Court on Thursday ordered a conditional release of the incarcerated former Haryana Director General of Police following a bail petition in the Ruchika Girhotra molestation case.
The apex court’s two-man bench, comprising Justices P Sathasivam and B S Chauhan, said the former police chief should not leave India without permission of the Chief Judicial Magistrate of Chandigarh.
The bail prayer was granted after the two judges studied the closure reports by the CBI in two of the three fresh cases filed by the family of Ruchika against Rathore.
The cases the CBI closed related to the allegation of doctoring Ruchika’s post mortem report and torturing her brother, who was later arrested.
CBI found no evidence supporting either of the allegations.
While granting bail, the apex court also took into consideration the fact that Rathore has already completed six months of his 18-month conviction.
The 68-year-old accused has spent six months of his 18-month sentence in jail.
“We are deeply hurt that he is walking out on bail. Laws should be stricter,” said SC Girhotra, the father of Ruchika.
“It is not a setback but a technicality,” said Supreme Court lawyer Kamini Jaiswal earlier, referring to the court granting bail, which apparently was a jolt to Ruchika’s family fighting a legal battle for justice.
The Punjab and Haryana High Court had on Sept 1 refused to release Rathore from jail on parole.
Earlier, on June 4, the Punjab and Haryana High Court had rejected Rathore?s bail plea.
Rathore had filed a bail petition in the high court on May 26, a day after the Chandigarh district and sessions court enhanced his jail term from six months to 18 months in the Ruchika molestation case of 1990.
A budding tennis player, Ruchika was 14 years old when the incident took place.
Rathore?s bail was forfeited and he was sent to jail, ending the first round of fight by the family and friends of Ruchika for the last 20 years.
Ruchika committed suicide in 1993, allegedly driven to desperation by the former cop who terrorised her family after molesting her.
Rathore had allegedly harassed the family of the teenager and slapped false cases against her brother and got him arrested and tortured.
The family had to move residence driven by the harassment of the former cop.