Government may issue show cause notices to Rathore

The Centre is contemplating issuing show cause notices to former Haryana DGP SPS Rathore asking why his police medal should not be stripped off and pension reduced for allegedly abusing his power and bringing disrepute to the Indian Police Service.

Rathore has been sentenced by a court to six months of jail for molesting teenager Ruchika Girhotra 19 years ago. The Centre may also advise Haryana government to initiate an internal probe to find out who helped Rathore in blocking and scuttling the judicial process against him in the case.

The Centre's show cause notice would ask the IPS officer why his 1985 Police Medal for Meritorious Services should not be withdrawn and pension benefits reduced as his conduct was allegedly unbecoming of a police officer.

Rathore, a 1965-batch IPS officer who retired in 2002, was awarded the Police Medal for Meritorious service on August 15, 1985. However, he was never considered for president's Police Medal following an internal report of Intelligence Bureau.

Ruchika (14), a budding tennis player, was molested in 1990 by Rathore, the then Inspector General of Police. She committed suicide three years later by consuming poison as the police official continued to harass her family. She was expelled from school and false cases were slapped against her brother, her family had said.