The Rouse Avenue Court of Delhi granted regular bail to outgoing Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) chief, Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh and the Federation’s assistant secretary, Vinod Tomar Singh, in the sexual harassment case on Thursday. The court heard the bail plea of BJP MP Brij Bhushan Singh who has been accused of sexual harassment, assault and stalking by six women wrestlers.
Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Harjeet Singh Jaspal said, “I am granting bail on a bond of Rs 25,000 each with certain conditions,.”
The court has ordered the accused not to leave the country without its permission. The next date of hearing for the scrutiny of documents is scheduled for July 28.
The six-time MP was produced before the Court of Special MP MLA Judge Harjeet Singh Jaspal for the hearing today.
The judge had reserved the order till 4 pm after hearing arguments from counsel appearing for the accused and the prosecution, as well as the complainants.
During the hearing, the public prosecutor, representing Delhi Police, asked the court to try the accused as per the law and impose specific conditions if granting relief.
When the court inquired if the prosecutor was opposing the bail application, he responded, “I am neither opposing nor supporting. The application should be dealt with as per the law and the court’s order.”
On the other side, the counsel representing the complainants opposed the application, citing the accused’s significant influence. They argued that bail should not be granted, but if it were, strict conditions must be imposed, given that witnesses had been approached in the past.
In response, the counsel for the accused assured the court of their cooperation with all conditions. They emphasized that no threats would occur and that the law is clear. The defence counsel requested bail, pledging to abide by the prescribed conditions.
Interim Bail
Earlier on Tuesday, the Rouse Avenue Court in Delhi granted two-day interim bail to Singh and co-accused Vinod Tomar– former assistant secretary of WFI– and directed them both to furnish bail bonds worth Rs 25,000.
Sexual Harassment Case
The Delhi police had filed a charge sheet against the six-time MP on June 15 under sections 354 (assault or criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty), 354A (sexual harassment), 354D (stalking) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
Tomar was charged with offences under IPC sections 109 (abetment of any offence, if the act abetted is committed in consequence, and where no express provision is made for its punishment), 354, 354A and 506 (criminal intimidation). Besides the present case involving six women wrestlers, another FIR was registered against Singh pursuant to allegations made by the minor grappler, which was registered under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act. She was among the seven female wrestlers who had accused Singh of sexual harassment.
Both the FIRs spoke of several alleged instances of sexual harassment like inappropriate touching, groping, stalking and intimidation by Singh at different times and places over a decade. The minor wrestler’s father had later claimed the allegations levelled by her against the MP were “false” and aimed at getting even with him over perceived injustice to the girl.
In the minor’s case, the court had on July 4 sought a response from the girl and the complainant on the final report filed by Delhi police seeking cancellation of the case against Singh. Delhi police had on June 15 submitted the report seeking cancellation of the FIR filed with regard to the allegation of sexual harassment against Singh.
A cancellation report is filed in cases where police fail to find corroborative evidence after due investigation. The cause of the women wrestlers was taken up by decorated grapplers like Olympic medallists Bajrang Punia and Sakshi Malik, and Asian Games champion Vinesh Phogat. The protest by celebrity wrestlers drew support from a host of opposition parties and farmer organisations.
(With PTI Inputs)
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