Till 1990, Anand Prakash, a chief engineer with the Haryana Agricultural Marketing Board, had a spotless record. But that changed soon after his wife Madhu filed a complaint against former Haryana DGP SPS Rathore for molesting their daughter's friend Ruchika Girhotra, reports The Indian Express.
In the years that followed, departmental inquires were ordered against Prakash and he was charged with professional misconduct and corruption. He was slapped with a dozen chargesheets, allegedly at the behest of Rathore, but except one in which he got a warning, all others were either dropped or he was exonerated of the charges. Prakash finally took premature retirement in 2000.
“I was under great pressure from the authorities to withdraw the complaint against Rathore or my career would be ruined. When I refused to budge, they started with their smear campaign from July 17, 1991, when a chargesheet for major penalty was slapped on me.
" A week before this, my instant annual confidential report (ACR) was spoiled,” he says.
Within two days of getting his first chargesheet for ‘major penalty', Prakash was slapped with another one on July 19, 1991.Others followed.
“A chargesheet for major penalty is a nightmare for any government employee. One can lose one's job if the charges are proved and I was given chargesheets under the Prevention of Corruption Act on flimsy grounds,” says Prakash.
“I was under pressure because of all that was happening to me on my professional front but it strengthened my resolve to fight. Despite being subjected to tremendous harassment from my superiors at the behest of Rathore, I decided to stick on. I moved the Punjab and Haryana High Court as the whole system was playing into Rathore's hands,” says Prakash.
It is this very same Anand Prakash who has raised his voice against Rathore's machinations. It was Anand Prakash who told mediamen outside Panchkula court that whatever Beena Rathore has told the court about Ruchika's father having married a second time was a bunch of lies.
