NEW DELHI: A report submitted
by a Chandigarh school on expulsion of Ruchika Girhotra, who was molested by
former Haryana DGP S P S Rathore, is under consideration of CBSE and no decision
has been taken on it.
"The school has submitted the report about its action of expelling Ruchika. The
report is being considered by a
committee. No decision has been taken in this matter," CBSE chairman Vineet
Joshi said.
The Sacred Heart Convent School in Chandigarh, which was asked by Central Board
of Secondary Education to explain its action, had submitted its report in March.
The school has insisted that there was no wrongdoing by it.
The school in Chandigarh's Sector 26 area had expelled Ruchika for allegedly not
paying fees. Ruchika, a budding
tennis player, was molested by Rathore in 1990 and she committed suicide three
years later. Her family alleges that
she was driven to suicide due to harassment by the former IPS officer who also
got the school to expel her.
Joshi said the school requested that its principal should be heard once before
any decision is taken. "Now the committee will hear the principal of the school
after which a decision will be taken," he said.
A magisterial inquiry had earlier indicted the school for "wrongfully expelling"
Ruchika.
The inquiry by the sub-divisional magistrate Prerna Puri had said non-payment of
fees in time was not a satisfactory
reason for her expulsion. It suggested action against the school and its
Principal Sister Sebastina for expelling her allegedly under pressure from
Rathore.
Out of 135 students, who had not paid the fees, Ruchika was the only student to
be expelled.
Rathore was sentenced to six months' rigorous imprisonment on December 21 last
year by a CBI court for
molesting Ruchika. A sessions court had on May 25 enhanced his prison term to 18
months.