Friends, The case related to Sri SPS Rathode, the ex Haryana DGP is one that has brought the IPS service again to the forefront of public imagination. While it is a fact that the public perception of police as an organization is not very good (for various assignable and non-assignable reasons), that of the IPS as the premier service has so far been decently high. But unfortunately in the recent few years, there have been many such infamous incidents of high-profile nature where senior officers of this Service have been found to be the perpetrators of the worst forms of crime. The latest in this is certainly the Ruchika case where it is alleged that this 14 year old girl was forced to suicide because of Sri Rathode, the then IGP. What is even more alarming is the fact that it is being claimed that once this now deceased girl made allegations against Mr Rathode, the police officer used all means of personal and departmental power and influence to ruin the family members of Ruchika, including registering many cases against her brother and sending him to jail. An interesting and noteworthy fact here is that even the then DGP Sri RR Singh has come out in the open to speak against a member of his own fraternity as has an IAS officer, the then Home secretary. The way the media has taken up the issue and the way the fact that Sri Rathode was an IPS officer who supposedly misused his position, is being highlighted in the media has certainly added one more black spot to the service and to the police department as a whole. One can only hope that justice will prevail at the earliest.
Amitabh Thakur IPS, IIM Lucknow # 94155-34526
