Ruchika case: Former chief ministers pass the buck

Who was shielding SPS Rathore, the senior IPS officer convicted for molesting 14-year-old Ruchika Girhotra in 1990?

A day after Ruchika’s father SC Girhotra alleged that former CM of Haryana Om Prakash Chautala and those who came after him had protected Rathore, Chautala refuted the charges. Addressing the media in Delhi on Friday, Chautala said, “We took strong action against him (Rathore). This [incident] happened in 1990 and chief minister Hukam Singh ordered a departmental inquiry against Rathore the moment the matter was brought to his notice. After the report came in, Rathore was suspended.”

Squarely blaming Congress governments, Chautala said, “He was made ADGP and DGP during the tenures of Bhajan Lal and Bansi Lal. They should be blamed for promoting him.”

But, he parried questions on how his government gave Rathore’s name for the President’s Police Medal in 1999.

Later, Congress spokesperson Abhishek Singhvi said, “There’s a Congress-led government in Haryana. I have no doubt they will appeal against the judgment.”

Alleging that it was Chautala that failed to act against Rathore, Haryana Janhit Congress (the outfit floated by Bhajan Lal after he quit Congress) chief Kuldeep Bishnoi said, “The molestation and harassment happened between 1990 and 1991 when Chautala was in power. My father’s (Bhajan Lal) government came later.”