A Delhi courtroom on Thursday deferred a listening to in regards to the framing of prices in opposition to BJP MP and former Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) chief, Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, in an alleged sexual harassment case by six girls wrestlers.
The choice to defer got here after Singh submitted an software searching for additional examination of proof regarding his whereabouts on the alleged date of the incident, September 7, 2022. He instructed the courtroom that he was not in Delhi when one of many complainant wrestlers was allegedly sexually harassed.
Presiding over the case, Further Chief Metropolitan Justice of the Peace Priyanka Rajpoot of Rouse Avenue Court docket, deferred the pronouncement of the order and can hear the matter on April 26.
The applying argues for an in depth investigation into Singh’s claims of being overseas when the incident purportedly befell. The applying additionally demanded that the Delhi Police produce the Name Element File (CDR).
APP Atul Srivastava, representing the Delhi Police, opposed the appliance, arguing that the timing of the request was strategic and supposed to lengthen the case. He harassed the potential authorized ramifications of reopening the investigation at this stage. In the meantime, the authorized counsel for the complainants criticised the appliance as a tactic to delay the proceedings.
They argued that the mandatory paperwork ought to have been procured earlier beneath Part 207 of the Code of Legal Process (CrPC), which offers with the communication of proof to the accused.
In February, Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh had sought to be discharged within the case, citing delay in reporting the alleged offence and contradictions within the complainants’ statements. Earlier throughout the proceedings, the complainants and police had mentioned that there was ample proof to proceed with the trial in opposition to the accused people.
The Delhi Police had refuted the argument of the accused that sure incidents occurred abroad and thus fell exterior the jurisdiction of Delhi courts, contending that the alleged acts of sexual harassment, attributed to Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, each overseas and in India, together with Delhi, constituted a part of the identical offence. His counsel had instructed the courtroom that the incidents have been mentioned to have occurred in 2012 however have been solely reported to the police in 2023.
As well as, he had contended discrepancies within the timing and places of the alleged incidents, asserting no clear hyperlink between them. The defence had identified contradictions between the complainants’ affidavits and statements.
The Delhi Police had contended that incidents of alleged sexual harassment, whether or not occurring abroad or throughout the nation, have been interconnected and a part of the identical transaction. Therefore, the police had mentioned that the courtroom had jurisdiction to listen to the case.
The BJP MP had earlier questioned the jurisdiction of the Delhi courtroom claiming that there was no motion or consequence which occurred in India. Further Public Prosecutor Atul Srivastava, representing the Delhi Police, had argued that beneath Part 354 of the IPC, the case will not be time-barred, because it carries a most punishment of 5 years.
Addressing the difficulty of delay in submitting complaints, Srivastava had introduced up the difficulty of worry among the many girls wrestlers, saying that wrestling held immense significance of their lives, and so they have been hesitant to return ahead as a result of considerations about jeopardising their careers.
The prosecution had argued that Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh’s defence, claiming his actions have been fatherly, demonstrated consciousness of his acts. The BJP MP’s justification that he was checking respiration patterns had contradicted the victims’ statements about inappropriate touching.
The police had claimed that there was enough prima facie proof to proceed with the trial in opposition to Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh and co-accused Tomar. The prosecution had earlier mentioned that the act of sexual harassment of the victims was a seamless offence, because it didn’t cease at any explicit time.
Delhi Police had additionally instructed the courtroom that Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh by no means missed a chance to “sexually harass” girls wrestlers, including that there’s enough proof to border prices in opposition to him and proceed with the trial.
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