Will join politics after women’s bill passed: Kiran Bedi

CHANDIGARH - Kiran Bedi, a celebrated former police officer, Monday said she would join active politics after the women’s quota becomes law but expressed apprehensions about the bill’s passage.

“I still adhere to my previous statement that I will start taking part in active politics once the women’s reservation bill is passed. But I believe there are very minimal chances that this bill will pass,” said Bedi, who was India’s first woman Indian Police Service (IPS) officer and has won the Magsaysay Award.

Bedi was here to sign a memorandum of understanding with Punjab-based Aryans Business School (ABS) to help deserving but financially constrained students who want to pursue higher education.

On the delay of justice in the cases against former senior Haryana police officers S.P.S. Rathore and M.S. Ahlawat, she said that if a case is registered against a police official or any other senior officer, then some independent agency should register a complaint and probe it, rather than instituting a departmental enquiry.

“It will certainly minimise the chances of the department favouring a tainted official during the inquiry,” Bedi said.

“Besides, during the course of inquiry, the officer should be immediately retired from the services instead of suspending him. This is because even after suspension, he can still avail 90 per cent benefits of his service.”

Rathore, a former Haryana police chief, was convicted of molesting teenager Ruchika Girhotra in 1990 and is presently lodged in jail and Ahlawat was charged last week for allegedly molesting a woman.

As per the MoU, which is christened as “Navjyoti- A Kiran Bedi Initiative”, 22 deserving students will be selected by Bedi and her team for pursuing bachelors and masters programme in business studies. ABS will finance the studies of these selected students.

“We both have more plans ahead for the deserving students. I also urge other institutes to come forward with similar initiatives. Those who want to apply for these seats may email at kiranbedi.initiative@aryans.edu.in. The selection process would start in first week of July on merit-cum-means basis,” Bedi added.