Ruchika case hearing adjourned till April 5

Chandigarh, Feb 15 (ANI): The Punjab and Haryana High Court on Monday adjourned the hearing in the Ruchika Girhotra molestation case, which involves former Haryana Director General of Police (DGP) SPS Rathore till April 5 as the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) sought more time for investigations.

Justice Sabrina adjourned the case after CBI counsel Anmol Rattan Sidhu told the court that the CBI, which is investigating the case, needed more time.

Rathore, who was stabbed thrice in the face with a knife on Monday (February 8) by Utsav Sharma, a student of the prestigious National Institute of design outside the court premises, was not present in the court today.

Rathore' lawyer wife Abha Rathore was present in the court today.

The former police officer has been charged for allegedly molesting 14-year old teenager Ruchika Girhotra, a budding young tennis star in 1990s.

Rathore has three cases pending against him in the court; all filed by Ruchika's family and friends.

Ruchika's family lawyer Pankaj Bharadwaj had earlier filed two FIRs against Rathore.

The lawyer had claimed that the first FIR was filed for forging documents like the inquest report and the other for illegal detention of Ruchika's brother, Ashu, who was kept in illegal detention and tortured at the behest of Rathore.

The third case is that of abetment to suicide against him. The family has alleged that Ruchika was expelled from Sacred Heart Convent in Chandigarh due to Rathore's influence.

Teenager Ruchika had killed herself three years after the incident by drinking poison.

The CBI is investigating whether Rathore drove Ruchika to suicide after she filed molestation charges. An inquiry by the Chandigarh administration has found that Ruchika was unfairly expelled from her school in 1990. The report also concluded that the expulsion took place under pressure from 'an external influence'.

The Special CBI court had earlier held the former cop guilty under Section 354 IPC and sentenced him to six months imprisonment and had imposed a fine of Rs 1,000 on him. (ANI)