Rupan Deol Bajaj

Rupan Deol Bajaj, is a retired Officer of the Indian Administrative Service (I.A.S) belonging to the Punjab Cadre. She at present lives in Chandigarh. She came to limelight when, she lodged a complaint against KPS Gill, who was at that time Director General of Police, Punjab, that he had molested her modesty by "patting" her "posterior" in an intoxicated state, during a party hosted on 18 July 1988 at the Chandigarh residence of then Punjab Financial Commissioner (Home) S L Kapoor.[1] She was at that time working as the Special Secretary, Finance as an I.A.S. officer. This case, that is, Rupen Deol Bajaj vs KPS Gill case, was one of the most publicized, high-profile legal cases and remained in media limelight for many years. In this high-profile case, KPS Gill was finally held guilty of the charges. The [High court of Punjab and Haryana, Chandigarh] on 20 August 1998 upheld Gill's conviction under Section 354 (outraging the modesty of a woman) and Section 509 (word, gesture or act intended to insult a lady) for his action against Deol.[2] KPS Gill was sentenced to pay a fine of Rs 200,000, be imprisoned rigorously for 3 months and simply for 2 months, and finally to serve 3 years of probation.[3] But Rupen Deol Bajaj, declined to accept the monetary compensation, and the court ordered that it be donated to women's organizations[3] After final appeals before the Supreme Court of India in July 2005, the conviction was upheld, and the jail sentences were reduced to probation.[2][3][4]

Her husband Mr. B.R. Bajaj, who is a senior I.A.S. officer of the Punjab Cadre, now retired, not only stood by her throughout the legal ordeal but also had filed a complaint in the Court of the Chief Judicial Magistrate for the same offenses, described above against KPS Gill and was a party to the case.[1]

She was praised in media largely for filing a case against such a powerful officer of Police and refusing to be cowed down. Also remaining true to the spirit of her struggle she has donated the fine of 200,000 levied by court on KPS Gill to a woman’s organization so that women fighting under circumstances at least get some monetary help.[5]

In year 2010, after Government's decision to strip police officers convicted of 'moral turpitude' of medals and awards, she demanded that Government take back Padma Shri award given to Punjab's former 'supercop' KPS Gill convicted for molesting her. She wanted the Government to move against Gill in the same manner as it was proceeding against ex-Haryana top cop SPS Rathore to strip him of his police medal in the aftermath of the Ruchika Girhotra molestation case.[6][7]

She was in news again in 2010 when her only son Ranjit Bajaj, was booked for attempt to murder following a complaint from one Gurmohan Singh Bedi, son of Punjab and Haryana High Court Judge MMS Bedi.[8]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Mrs. Rupan Deol Bajaj & Anr vs Kanwar Pal Singh Gill & Anr on 12 October, 1995
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 SC upholds conviction of Gill in Rupan Deol case
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 SC holds Gill guilty in Rupan Deol Bajaj case
  4. ↑
  5. ↑ Hero as Molester : It is a victory of the indomitable spirit of Ms Rupan Deol Bajaj who refused to get cowed down by the awe inspiring Supercop. One can say without any exaggeration that it is significant step forward for the women’s movement also which has consistently fought for violence against women in all its forms.
  6. ↑ Former Punjab bureaucrat Rupan Deol Bajaj demands to take back Gill's Padma Shri
  7. ↑ Ex-IAS officer Rupan Bajaj wants Gill's Padma Shri taken back
  8. ↑ Rupan Deol's son held for murder attempt
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Wednesday, May 06, 2015. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.