Rathore may lose his medal

New Delhi, Dec, 25: The home ministry is likely to write to the President’s office seeking a withdrawal of the police medal awarded to the former Haryana DGP, S.P.S. Rathore, besides reducing the pension benefits enjoyed by him , following his conviction in the Ruchika Girhotra molestation and suicide case.

As a first step, the home ministry is expected to issue showcause notices to the former DGP asking why his police medal should not be stripped off and pension reduced for allegedly abusing his power and bringing disrepute to the Indian Police Service.

“In the last few years, it is the first such case where the home ministry will seek the withdrawal of the police medal and reduction of pension benefits to a police officer,” a senior official said.

Rathore has been sentenced by a court to six months of jail for molesting teenager Ruchika Girhotra 19 years ago.

The Central government may also advise the Haryana government to initiate an internal probe to find out who helped Rathore in blocking and scuttling the judicial process against him in the case.

Rathore, a 1965-batch IPS officer, who retired in 2002, was awarded the Police Medal for Meritorious service on August 15, 1985. However, he was never considered for President’s Police Medal for distinguished service in 1999 following an internal report of Intelligence Bureau (IB).

Rathore’s name was recommended for the President’s Police Medal For Distinguished Service by the then state home minister in November 1999, sources said.

The sources revealed that the IB had submitted an adverse report in his case in 1999 following which his name was turned down.