Ex-WFI chief Singh not exonerated by oversight panel in sexual harassment case: Police tell court
New Delhi (PTI): Former WFI chief and BJP MP Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, accused of sexual harassment of several women wrestlers, was not exonerated by the oversight committee constituted by the government to investigate the allegations against him, Delhi police told a city court on Saturday.
The police made the submission before Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Harjeet Singh Jaspal during the argument on whether to frame charges against Singh in the case.
"Singh was not exonerated by the oversight committee. The committee had given the recommendations, not the decision Nowhere has it stated that these allegations are not substantiated or are false," special public prosecutor Atul Srivastava told the court.
He urged the court to frame the charges against Singh, saying even a mere gesture can constitute a crime under section 354 (Assault or criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty) of the Indian Penal Code.
The Delhi police had filed a charge sheet against the six-time MP on June 15 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 appeared before the court during the proceedings of the case on Saturday.
Delhi police will resume its arguments on September 23 on the charges against Singh.
The Union Sports Ministry had constituted an oversight committee headed by Indian boxing great M C Mary Kom to investigate the allegations levelled by women wrestlers against Singh after their protest in the national capital.
Its report was not made public but a copy was given to the Delhi police who are probing the allegations against Singh.
The court had on July 20 granted bail to Singh and suspended Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) assistant secretary Vinod Tomar. They were never arrested in the case.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Congress using hijab issue to pacify minority anger, alleges Karnataka LoP R Ashoka
Bengaluru: Leader of Opposition in the Assembly R. Ashoka has accused the Congress government of using the hijab issue to placate what he described as discontent among minority voters after the Davanagere by-election.
In a post on X on Wednesday, Ashoka alleged that the state government, instead of addressing issues such as price rise, corruption, farmers’ distress and law and order, was attempting to retain its minority vote base by reviving the hijab issue.
Referring to the 2022 dress code introduced by the BJP government, which prohibited hijab in schools and colleges, Ashoka said the Karnataka High Court had upheld the policy and emphasised the importance of discipline in educational institutions.
He questioned the Congress government’s move to revisit the issue and asked whether setting aside the court-backed policy to benefit one community could be described as secularism.
Ashoka further alleged that while the government was willing to permit hijab, it continued to prohibit saffron shawls.
He accused the government of dividing students on religious lines rather than treating schools and colleges as spaces of equality.
Drawing a comparison with Mamata Banerjee’s government in West Bengal, Ashoka claimed that excessive appeasement politics had harmed the state and warned that the Congress in Karnataka could face a similar political response.
He said voters in Karnataka would teach the Congress a lesson for what he termed “vote-bank politics” and for compromising constitutional and judicial principles.
