New Delhi: A Delhi court on Tuesday granted two-day interim bail to Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) chief and Bharatiya Janata Party MP Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh in the sexual harassment case lodged by women wrestlers.
He was asked to furnish a personal bond of Rs 25,000.
The court also granted bail to Vinod Tomar, the suspended WFI assistant secretary, in the case.
Olympic-level wrestlers were forced to hold a protest against him, staging a dharna at Delhi’s Jantar Mantar from January 18.
Bajrang Punia, Sakshi Malik, and Asian Games champion Vinesh Phogat, were among the protesters demanding Singh’s arrest.
Singh has consistently rejected all allegations of misconduct.
At Tuesday’s hearing, per the news agency, Singh’s counsel alleged a media trial was going on against him. The metropolitan magistrate then advised the lawyer that he can either move an application in the metropolitan court itself or the high court for relief and an appropriate order will be passed.
However, no such application was moved before the metropolitan court on Singh’s behalf.
The court then granted interim bail to Singh and Tomar till Thursday, July 20, when his regular bail petition will be considered.
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).
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).
Apart from the case registered by six women wrestlers, another first information report was registered against Singh by a minor grappler, which was registered under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act. She was among the seven female wrestlers who had accused Singh of sexual harassment.
It had been the primary concern of protesting wrestlers that a man booked under POCSO, which calls for immediate action, had not been arrested.
The allegations against Singh include inappropriate touching, groping, stalking and intimidation by him at different times and places over a decade. Other allegations against him include dictatorial functioning and financial irregularities in the management of WFI.
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