The Home Ministry is likely to move court against the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) order restoring the pension of disgraced former Haryana DGP S P S Rathore who was convicted in Ruchika Girhotra molestation case. The Home Ministry was surprised over the CAT order and preparing the ground to challenge it within a very short span of time,official sources said. A Division Bench of the CAT headed by Justice S D Anand has ordered the restoration of the pension of Rathore,which was stopped by the Centre in June last year. The Bench had observed that it was of the considered view that the competent authority could not have validly directed withholding of pension on permanent basis. We will place before the CAT all relevant documents related to the case and strongly favour withholding of Rathore's pension as he had committed the crime when he was holding a responsible position in the Haryana Police, a source said. 69-year-old Rathore was awarded six months' rigorous imprisonment and fined Rs 1,000 by the Chandigarh CBI court in December 2009 for molesting the 14-year-old tennis player on August 12,1990. The girl committed suicide three years later.
