BJP MP and WFI chief Brij Bhushan Singh granted interim bail in sexual harassment case

Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) chief and parliamentarian from ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), was granted interim bail by a Delhi court on Tuesday (July 18) in thesexual harassment case.

Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Harjeet Singh Jaspal granted relief to Singh and his co-accused Vinod Tomar —the suspended assistant secretary of WFI — after the prosecution did not oppose the same.

The interim bail was granted on bonds of Rs 25,000 each. It is valid till July 20 when the court will hear the matter on regular bail.

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The BJP MP was accused of sexual harassment by several women wrestlers and consequently, the Delhi Police filed two first information reports (FIRs) on June 2.

The complaints against the WFI chief mentioned his attempts at inappropriate touching, putting his hand over the chest of girls, moving his hand from the chest to the back and chasing them, among others.

Charges against Singh

And on June 15, a chargesheet was filed against Brij Bhushan Singh under sections 354 (assault or criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty), 354A (sexual harassment), 354D (stalking) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

Singh has denied all allegations, and even issued a defiant statement refuting all charges.

Singh's counsel alleged a 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.

Meanwhile, the wrestlers said that their fight will now continue in the court and not on the roads. Vinesh Phogat, Sakshi Malik and Bajrang Punia posted identical tweets saying the government has fulfilled its promise of filing a chargesheet against Singh by the given date.

"Regarding the reform in WFI, the election process, as promised, has begun. We will wait for fulfilment of promises made by the government regarding the July 11 elections," the statement on Twitter read.

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