The Delhi High Court on Thursday came down heavily on former BJP MP and former Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) president Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh over his petition seeking quashing of the sexual harassment case filed against him by women wrestlers.
The single-judge Bench of Justice Neena Bansal Krishna asked Singh why he chose to file a single plea challenging the order framing charges against him as well as the proceedings itself.
The High Court said in its order that there could not be an omnibus order on everything. If Singh wanted to quash the order, he could have approached the Court.
The petition by Singh appeared to be an oblique way to quash the case in its entirety after the commencement of the trial against him, it added.
However, the single-judge Bench directed Singh’s counsel to prepare a short note in two weeks and posted the matter for further hearing on September 26.
The counsels representing Delhi Police and the complainant wrestlers argued that the petition was not maintainable.
Appearing for Singh, Advocate Rajiv Mohan alleged that the entire case was based on a hidden agenda and the complainant wrestlers wanted to remove him from the post of WFI president.
In his petition, Singh sought quashing of the entire proceedings, including the First Information Report (FIR) and the trial court order, which framed charges against him.
The former WFI president has been charged with the offence of sexual harassment and outraging the modesty of five women wrestlers.
The trial court held that there was sufficient material on record to frame charges against Singh for the offence punishable under Section 506(1) (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) concerning two wrestlers.
Former Assistant Secretary of WFI, Vinod Tomar, has been charged with the offence of criminal intimidation of one wrestler.
Six women wrestlers levelled sexual harassment allegations against Singh. Based on their complaints, police had registered an FIR against the former Member of Parliament.
Police filed a charge sheet against Singh on June 15, 2023 for offences under Sections 354 (outraging modesty), 354A (sexually coloured remarks), 354D (stalking) and 506(1) (criminal intimidation) of IPC.
The women wrestlers had earlier moved the Supreme Court for the registration of an FIR against Singh.
The Apex Court was subsequently informed by the Delhi Police that an FIR was registered and the investigation was on track.
A minor wrestler had also levelled allegations against Singh. However, she later withdrew her complaint and the Delhi Police filed a cancellation report in that case under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.