Ruchika case: Rathore walks out of jail
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| Ruchika molestation case: Rathore walks out of jail |
CHANDIGARH: After spending close to six months behind bars, disgraced ex-Haryana DGP SPS Rathore serving a 18-month sentence in the Ruchika molestation case walked free on Friday, a day after the Supreme Court granted bail.
68-year-old Rathore, wearing a white shirt with the infamous smirk back on his face, was released from the high security Burail jail on the outskirts of the city and whisked away in a car after walking a short distance towards the main gate.
Rathore, who was received by his counsel-wife Abha and surrounded by police personnel, did not talk to a strong posse of waiting newsmen and whisked away in his red car.
The release came shortly after Abha fulfilled the legal formalities and furnished a bail bond of Rs one lakh in the court of chief judicial magistrate J S Sidhu.
Still and TV cameramen also jostled for vantage points as the mediamen waited outside the jail premises since morning
Rathore was in jail exactly for 170 days in barrack number Ten as 'B' class prisoner and worked as a librarian for which he earned around Rs 5,000.
The Supreme Court while granting Rathore bail on Thursday had also ordered that he would not leave the country without the prior permission of the CJM. Rathore had challenged his conviction and the enhanced sentence before the apex court.
It had also taken note of the fact that the CBI had closed two of the three fresh cases against him with the probe into the abetment to suicide charge still underway.
Ruchika, 14, a budding tennis player, had committed suicide three years after being molested by Rathore on August 12, 1990.
A sessions court had on May 25 this year increased Rathore's jail term from six months to one-and-a-half years while allowing CBI and the Ruchika Girhotra family's appeal for enhancement of the punishment.
Rathore has been lodged in Burail jail in Chandigarh since May 25 after his punishment was enhanced.
Punjab and Haryana High Court had on September 1 dismissed Rathore's appeal challenging his conviction and the sentence, saying his conduct as a top official was "shameful".
68-year-old Rathore, wearing a white shirt with the infamous smirk back on his face, was released from the high security Burail jail on the outskirts of the city and whisked away in a car after walking a short distance towards the main gate.
Rathore, who was received by his counsel-wife Abha and surrounded by police personnel, did not talk to a strong posse of waiting newsmen and whisked away in his red car.
The release came shortly after Abha fulfilled the legal formalities and furnished a bail bond of Rs one lakh in the court of chief judicial magistrate J S Sidhu.
Still and TV cameramen also jostled for vantage points as the mediamen waited outside the jail premises since morning
Rathore was in jail exactly for 170 days in barrack number Ten as 'B' class prisoner and worked as a librarian for which he earned around Rs 5,000.
The Supreme Court while granting Rathore bail on Thursday had also ordered that he would not leave the country without the prior permission of the CJM. Rathore had challenged his conviction and the enhanced sentence before the apex court.
It had also taken note of the fact that the CBI had closed two of the three fresh cases against him with the probe into the abetment to suicide charge still underway.
Ruchika, 14, a budding tennis player, had committed suicide three years after being molested by Rathore on August 12, 1990.
A sessions court had on May 25 this year increased Rathore's jail term from six months to one-and-a-half years while allowing CBI and the Ruchika Girhotra family's appeal for enhancement of the punishment.
Rathore has been lodged in Burail jail in Chandigarh since May 25 after his punishment was enhanced.
Punjab and Haryana High Court had on September 1 dismissed Rathore's appeal challenging his conviction and the sentence, saying his conduct as a top official was "shameful".
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