On July 18, a Delhi court granted two-day interim bail to Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP and Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, who has been accused of committing the offences of sexual harassment, stalking and molestation by six women wrestlers. Singh’s co-accused in the case, Vinod Tomar, the former WFI assistant secretary, has also been granted interim bail.
Judge Harjeet Singh Jaspal of the Rouse Avenue Court granted interim bail to the two accused and directed them to furnish bail bonds worth Rs 25,000. Notably, the arguments for regular bail will be heard after two days, on July 20.
Earlier, on July 14, the said Delhi court had issued summons to the two accused after taking cognisance of the charge sheet filed against them on June 13. Based on the chargesheet, the Delhi Police had said that in view of the “investigation so far,” Singh is “liable to be prosecuted and punished for offences of sexual harassment, molestation and stalking”. It is essential to note that Singh has not been arrested in this case, even after the sit-in protest at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi, led by prominent wrestlers such as Vinesh Phogat, Sakshi Malik, Bajrang Punia, for over 37 days and had demanded for his arrest.
Today, in the Delhi court, Rajiv Mohan, counsel for both the accused, argued for grant of bail stating that the accused were charge-sheeted without arrest and should, therefore, be granted bail. Upon this, Special Public Prosecutor Atul Kumar Srivastava submitted his sole objection to the bail objection, stating that even though the charge sheet was filed without arrest, the accused might influence the witness in the case. It is essential to emphasise here that the minor wrestler complainant had withdrawn her complaint against Singh citing threats and fear of life. Nevertheless, the accused were granted interim bail.
It is essential to highlight here that the Delhi police has invoked Sections 506 (criminal intimidation), 354 (outraging modesty of a woman); 354 A (sexual harassment); and 354 D (stalking) in the charge sheet against Singh. Furthermore, it has also been flagged in the said charge sheet that in one case, Singh’s harassment was “repeated and continuing”. It is essential to highlight here that if convicted, these charges could lead to a potential prison sentence of up to five years. The alleged incidents of sexual harassment are said to have occurred between 2016 and 2019 at the WFI office, at Singh’s official residence and also abroad, according to media reports.
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