The Delhi High Court on Thursday rebuked former Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh for filing an “oblique” petition to quash the sexual harassment case against him.
The bench of Justice Neena Bansal Krishna took a prima facie exception of the ambagious petition filed by the former Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) president seeking quashing of the sexual harassment case in its entirety after the trial has started.
The high court questioned why a single petition was filed challenging the trial court order framing charges against him as well as the proceedings itself. The court said that it can’t pass one order on everything.
The high court told Bhushan that if he wanted to get the order on charge quashed, he could have moved for that, but moving a plea seeking quashing of charges as well as the proceedings appears to be an oblique approach.
The court directed counsel appearing for Singh to prepare a short note in two weeks and adjourned the matter till September 26.
Singh filed a plea in high court contending that the investigation was carried out in a biased manner as only the version of the victims, who were interested in taking revenge against him, was considered.
The former WFI chief claimed that he has been falsely implicated in this case and no offence as alleged by the prosecution has been committed by him. He further alleged that the chargesheet was filed before the trial court without taking care of the falsehood of allegation.
In May, the trial court had framed charges of sexual harassment, intimidation and outraging the modesty of women against Bhushan.
Nearly a year has passed since the Delhi Police filed an FIR against Singh on complaints filed by wrestlers after the intervention of the Supreme Court in May 2023.
A total of six wrestlers had accused Singh of sexual harassment. However, a minor wrestler later withdrew her complaint and the Delhi Police filed a cancellation report in that case under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO Act).
