Blame game at its peak in Haryana

Politicians of various hues, including the former Haryana Chief Ministers Om Parkash Chautala and Bhajan Lal, are giving different versions of their role in shielding and promoting the former Director-General of Police S. P. S. Rathore, who was convicted last Monday and sentenced to six months in jail for molesting a 14-year-old school-going tennis player in August 1990. The political blame game is at its peak and there is a strong clamour for revisiting the 19-year-old case and trying Mr. Rathore under Section 306 of the Indian Penal Code. However, a senior retired bureaucrat told The Hindu that the Congress regime headed by Bhajan Lal failed to prevent the police atrocities the family of the victim was subjected to, especially her younger brother who faced several false cases and was paraded in the locality where he lived. A local advocate, Rohit Dheer, added that criminal cases should also be registered against these police officials, whether serving or retired, for “obeying the illegal orders” of Mr. Rathore.