Rathore applies for parole again

CHANDIGARH - Disgraced former Haryana police chief S.P.S. Rathore, who is serving an 18-month jail term at Burail jail here for molesting teenager Ruchika Girhotra, has once again applied for parole of 42 days, officials said Sunday.

This is the second time Rathore has applied for parole before the inspector general of police (prisons), Chandigarh. Last month he had applied for two-week parole but his plea was rejected by the authorities Sep 3.

“Rathore has sought parole to look after the agriculture work in his vacant land in Haryana’s Panchkula district and on health grounds. He said that he wanted to undergo a complete health check-up as he is not keeping good health,” a Burail jail official told IANS on condition of anonymity.

“In his parole application, Rathore has said that his son is doing a job at some far-off place so he cannot come to look after the agriculture work,” he said.

Police in Chandigarh have asked the Panchkula district administration and the police there to look into the matter and to submit their comments at the earliest.

Rathore’s 2.5 acre agricultural land is in Panchkula district’s Raipur Rani town, around 45 km from here.

Rathore is currently lodged in Burail jail following his conviction in the Aug 12, 1990 molestation case of teenaged tennis player Ruchika Girhotra.

“We have got a request from Chandigarh police. Sub-divisional magistrate has been directed to look into this matter and to submit the report in one-week’s time,” said an official of Panchkula administration here Sunday.

Rathore, 69, was sentenced to 18 months rigorous imprisonment by the district and sessions court of Chandigarh May 25 and is lodged in jail since then.

A former director general of police in Haryana, he filed a plea in January challenging his conviction by a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) special court here in December last year for molesting 15-year-old Ruchika in Panchkula town, 15 km from here.

Ruchika committed suicide three years after she and her family were subjected to harassment by the Haryana Police at the behest of Rathore.