Rathore, step down

It comes as no surprise that Haryana DGP, S.P.S. Rathore, should allege a witchhunt against him by the media, and this newspaper in particular, in the Ruchika molestation case. quot;Everybody is interested in dragging me down,quot; he complains. Quite obviously, Rathore would like nothing better than to paint the entire matter in a personal hue. But the truth is that the Ruchika molestation case and the demand that the DGP, chargesheeted by the CBI for allegedly molesting 14-year-old Ruchika a decade ago, should step down from his post until he is cleared of the grave charges against him, concerns more than just an individual. It has to do with the propriety of institutions and the rule of law. What is at stake here is the people8217;s faith in the law of the land being applied equally to all, even those who occupy positions of power. The chorus for Rathore8217;s resignation is a plea to allow justice to take its due course, unhampered by fear or favour.

Despite the passage of ten years, justice has not yet been done in this case. Way back in 1990, the then DGP R.R. Singh concluded, after inquiries into the formal complaint filed by Ruchika8217;s parents, that an FIR be filed against Rathore. In 1991, the state financial commissioner Home accepted the DGP8217;s report and asked for a case to be registered under Sections 342 and 354 of the IPC. In 1992, the state law department recommended that an FIR be registered against Rathore. Again, in early 1994, the Haryana chief secretary recommended action against Rathore. Yet, quite inexplicably, nothing happened. To Rathore, that is. Meanwhile, the victim8217;s entire family was destroyed. False, untenable cases were used to hound Ruchika8217;s brother. Unable to bear the unrelenting harassment and humiliation, the girl herself committed suicide. Ruchika8217;s father and brother have lived fearful lives ever since, in hiding. Three lives, one lost, and two devastated, stand poignant testimony to a justice denied.

While Rathore has displayed a singular talent for survival, he could not have done it alone. The Haryana cop could not possibly have singlehandedly obstructed the course of justice. Also culpable are successive political dispensations in the state of Haryana that have helped to keep him insulated from the due processes of law, just as the Chautala government is guilty today of continued patronage to a chargesheeted police chief. If Chief Minister Om Prakash Chautala will not allow himself to be persuaded by arguments of morality and propriety to ask his favoured DGP to step down, he might do well to consider a more pragmatic one instead: If he does not immediately dissociate his government from Rathore, the latter8217;s taint may spill over to blacken him as well. Maybe Chautala can take his cue from the designated court of Chief Judicial Magistrate A.K. Tyagi, which on Tuesday allowed the CBI8217;s application for condonation of delay in filing its chargesheet against Rathore. The chief minister should now desistfrom holding the state umbrella over Rathore8217;s head.