Battle continues

Published : Jul 02, 2010 00:00 IST

Shambhu Pratap SinghRathore. His bail plea is to be heard on June 29. He is now detained at the Burail jail in Chandigarh.-AKHILESH KUMAR

Shambhu Pratap SinghRathore. His bail plea is to be heard on June 29. He is now detained at the Burail jail in Chandigarh.-AKHILESH KUMAR

ON May 25, the former Haryana Director General of Police S.P.S. Rathore lost his appeal in the Sessions Court in Chandigarh against the sentence of six months rigorous imprisonment he was handed down by a trial court following his conviction in December 2009 in a molestation case. The court also increased his jail term to 18 months.

The victim was 14 when the incident took place in August 1990 at the office of the Haryana Lawn Tennis Association, and the girl committed suicide three years later.

Rathore has challenged the order in the Punjab and Haryana High Court and also filed a bail petition. The bail plea will come up for hearing on June 29.

Rathore was Inspector General of Police in Haryana when the incident took place. The inquiry report of the then Deputy General of Police, R.R. Singh, recommended the registration of a first information report (FIR).

In August 1999, acting on a writ petition by Madhu Prakash, the mother of Aradhana, the victim's friend and the main witness to the incident, the Punjab and Haryana High Court directed the police to file an FIR. The CBI took charge of the case in 2000 and filed the charge-sheet in November that year.

On December 21, 2009, a CBI court found Rathore guilty. He had by then been promoted as DGP (Haryana) and had also retired from service. Besides the six months rigorous imprisonment, the court imposed a fine of Rs.1,000. However, Rathore got bail immediately and challenged the conviction on January 4.

Following protests from women's organisations, and the family and friends of the victim, the CBI appealed in the Sessions Court, Chandigarh, for an enhanced sentence. Madhu Prakash also filed a revision petition seeking enhanced punishment for Rathore.

Additional Sessions Judge Gurbir Singh in his 101-page order observed that the sentence should respond to the sensitivities of society and imposing a meagre sentence would be counterproductive. This was a case in which convict deserves maximum punishment prescribed for the offence under Section 354 [of the] IPC. The learned trial court fell in error by awarding rigorous imprisonment for six months to the convict, he added.

The judgment also took cognisance of the protracted cross-examination of witnesses for the prosecution: Every accused has got the right to cross-examine the witness, but no one has the right to drag the cross-examination to such an extent such a lengthy cross-examination of witnesses proves that they were put on trial and the accused was not facing trial.

Gurbir Singh rejected the argument by the defence that Rathore was a victim of a media trial: Media cannot influence the decision-making process. If the media is able to influence the judgment of Indian courts, then there cannot be independence of judiciary.

Odious offence

Rathore filed a bail petition on May 26. Postponing the hearing of the bail petition by at least a month, Vacation Judge Ajay Tewari noted that normally where the sentence was up to three years, bail should be granted liberally since the long pendency of the appeal/revision may result in the convict having completed his jail term. But, he observed, in a case like the present, where the accused has been found guilty of a particularly odious offence, this rule can be departed from.

Rathore escaped the maximum punishment of two years. His meritorious service, age, medical condition, unmarried dependent daughter and the fact that he spent more than 200 days in court during the trial were the reasons given for mitigating his sentence.

The All India Democratic Women's Association welcomed the increase in the jail term, but added, The court should have considered the fact that the child was in a particularly vulnerable situation in the presence of an important police officer who took advantage of his position. Sexual assault, it said, should also be considered to be a more grievous crime when it is committed against minors.

The case further highlights deep infirmities in our criminal justice system which needs to be urgently addressed. Deliberate action and inaction by the police should be made punishable with appropriately strong sentences and fines. Sensitisation of the judiciary to the manner in which women and girls experience sexual assaults is also important, it noted.

The AIDWA also demanded that charges be filed expeditiously in all the other cases against Rathore, including one under Section 306 of the Indian Penal Code for abetment to suicide.

Rathore is serving his sentence at Burail jail in Chandigarh.

T.K. Rajalakshmi
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