Chandigarh, Feb 5 (IANS) The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) Thursday filed an appeal in the district and sessions court here for enhancing the sentence of disgraced former Haryana police chief S.P.S. Rathore in the Ruchika Girhotra molestation case.

Rathore was convicted by a CBI special court here December last year and sentenced to a six-month jail term in the 19-year-old molestation case of teenager Ruchika Girhotra.

CBI sources said that in the enhancement appeal, CBI lawyers have strongly opposed the excuse of old-age given by Rathore's counsel, and have demanded a sentence of up to two years.

Conviction under Section 354 (molestation) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) provides for a maximum punishment of two years.

The CBI special court had held Rathore guilty Dec 21 for molesting 15-year-old Ruchika, a budding tennis player, in Panchkula town Aug 12, 1990. He was sentenced to six months' rigorous imprisonment and slapped a fine of Rs.1,000.

Rathore was granted bail immediately after his conviction.

Last month, Rathore had filed an appeal against his conviction in the district court. After hearing Rathore's appeal, the court had extended the post-conviction bail of Rathore till Feb 8.

He was asked not to leave the country and deposit his passport within seven days.

Now the case will be heard by the court continuously for three days Feb 8, 9 and 10.

In the meantime it was learnt that the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE), New Delhi, has issued notice to Sacred Heart Senior Secondary School here in Sector 26, asking it to explain why it should not be dis-affiliated for expelling Ruchika from the school.

A magisterial inquiry ordered by the Chandigarh administration had last month held the school guilty of being unfair in expelling the teenaged molestation victim for fee default in September 1990, one-month after she was molested by Rathore.