New Delhi: Delhi Police opposed former Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) president Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh’s plea in the Delhi high court to quash the proceedings related to the sexual harassment case lodged against him by women wrestlers, telling the court on Monday that the trial against the BJP leader is in progress.
In its status report submitted before the court, Delhi Police stated that the chief and cross examination of one of the complainants and supporting witness was complete while the chief examination of another complainant is scheduled for January 27.
“The trial is currently in progress with the chief and cross-examination of SM and supporting witness Narender already completed. The chief examination of complainant VP is scheduled for January 27, 2025,” the report stated.
In his plea filed through advocates Rajiv Mohan, Rishabh Bhati and Rehan Khan, Singh, the former BJP MP, had sought the quashing of the first information report (FIR) and the proceedings emanating from it. He claimed that the case against him was “false” and “frivolous”. His plea added that the probe was considered in a biased manner and the charge sheet was filed without taking care of the falsehood of the allegation.
On September 26, the court had asked Delhi Police and women wrestlers to file their response in the petition. A bench of justice Manoj Kumar Ohri had given its opinion that Singh’s petition was maintainable, despite a different bench admonishing Singh for filing the plea after the framing of charges on August 29. Describing the former MP’s plea as “oblique”, justice Neena Bansal Krishna observed that if Bhushan wanted to challenge the proceedings, he should have come before the commencement of trial.
The high court had on October 18 sought Delhi police’s response to the former WFI president’s application seeking a stay of the trial court proceedings. The matter was listed before a bench of justice Vikas Mahajan on Monday but due to paucity of time, it was adjourned to March 19.
In the previous hearings, Delhi Police and wrestlers had objected to the maintainability of Singh’s plea saying it was preferred after the chargesheet was filed and the court framed the charges.
The matter had gained momentum after several female wrestlers protested against Brij Bhushan in January 2023, accusing him of sexual exploitation and intimidation. On June 15, 2023, Delhi Police filed a 1082-page chargesheet against Singh and Vinod Tomar, former WFI assistant secretary and co-accused, following complaints by the wrestlers. While Singh was charged under sections 354 (assault or criminal force with intent to outrage modesty), 354A (sexual harassment) and 354D (stalking) of the IPC, Tomar, in addition to sections 354 and 354A, was also charged under sections 109 (abetment) and 506 (criminal intimidation). The police had also filed a 552-page cancellation report in the case filed against him under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.
Based on the allegations from the five complainants, a city court last May had framed charges under section 354 and 354A against Singh. He was also charged under section Section 506 Part 1 (criminal intimidation) of the IPC based on allegations made by two complainants, but was discharged from the charges related to the sixth complainant.
