Wrestlers' Sexual Harassment Case: Brij Bhushan Singh had to furnish a personal bond of Rs 25,000. (file)
Outgoing Wrestling Federation of India chief and BJP MP Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, accused by several women wrestlers of sexual harassment, today got interim bail for two days from Delhi's Rouse Avenue court. The next hearing for bail will be held on July 20 at 12:30 pm in the same court.
The court questioned the Delhi Police on bail for Mr Singh, to which they said the accused is not meeting any witnesses.
Vinod Tomar, the suspended assistant secretary of the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI), was also granted bail.
Brij Bhushan Singh had to furnish a personal bond of Rs 25,000.
The two accused appeared before the court in pursuance of summons issued to them, and sought bail in the case.
The women wrestlers have questioned the intent of the oversight panel that probed the sexual harassment accusations against Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh and alleged that it was biased towards him.
The government-formed six-member panel, led by the legendary Indian boxer MC Mary Kom, had submitted its report to the government, but it was not made public.
Brij Bhushan Singh has refused to step down despite the charge sheet filed against him by the Delhi Police.
Sources said the Delhi Police has filed a 1000-page charge sheet against the Federation chief after a detailed investigation that included questioning over 100 people. 15 of those questioned testified in favour of the seven wrestlers who accused him of sexual harassment. Among them were the wrestlers' friends and families. "The evidence is enough to try and punish the accused," police sources have said.
The Delhi Police had filed a charge sheet against the six-time MP on June 15 under sections 354 (assault or criminal force to a woman with intent to outrage her modesty), 354A (sexual harassment), 354D (stalking) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
Mr Tomar was charged with offences under IPC sections 109 (abetment of any offence, if the act abetted is committed in consequence, and where no express provision is made for its punishment), 354, 354A and 506 (criminal intimidation).
Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh's counsel alleged media trail, to which the judge said he may move an application before the high court or trial court. The court will pass an appropriate order on the application, the judge said.
The counsel, however, did not move any application in this regard.
Besides the present case, another FIR was registered against Mr Singh pursuant to allegations made by a minor wrestler, which was registered under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act. She was among the seven female grapplers who had accused Mr Singh of sexual harassment.
The Delhi police, though, have requested a cancellation of the POCSO case, citing lack of evidence.
Both the FIRs mentioned several alleged instances of sexual harassment like inappropriate touching, groping, stalking and intimidation by Mr Singh at different times and places over a decade.