Court reserves ruling on Rathore's bail plea

The Punjab and Haryana High Court on Wednesday reserved for Thursday its decision on the bail petition of the former Haryana Director-General of Police, S.P.S. Rathore, who has been sentenced to 18 months in prison in a case of molestation.

Mr. Rathore was sentenced on May 25 by the district and sessions court here. His counsel-wife Abha Rathore filed the bail petition in the High Court.

Counsel's house raided

A team of the Punjab police from Amritsar on Tuesday raided the house of Pankaj Bhardwaj, counsel for the girl's family, in a multi-crore-land scam, in which he has been named an accused.

Mr. Bhardwaj, who abstained from the court on Tuesday, appeared to argue against Rathore's bail plea on Wednesday. “The case [against him] is being masterminded by a lobby. It is surprising that 20 days ago, I received a notice in connection with the land case, and the police team raided my house on Tuesday.” The timing of the raid was questionable, as it coincided with the hearing of Rathore's bail plea. He said he would file a petition for anticipatory bail.

The Amritsar police said Mr. Bhardwaj was charged with cheating and fraudulently selling a piece of land. A case was registered against 32 persons, including Mr. Bhardwaj, on a complaint filed by the Amritsar Improvement Trust and a Gurgaon-based company in 2007.

(With regard to references to him in this news report, Advocate Pankaj Bhardwaj, who is based in Chandigarh, has written to The Hindu saying he was discharged in this case on July 2, 2014 by the Trial Court "as the prosecution failed to bring any incriminating evidence... against him on the record during the investigation." He has sent across the court order.)