NEW DELHI: The Chief Metropolitan Magistrate (CMM) of Rouse Avenue court on Thursday assigned the sexual harassment complaint against BJP MP and outgoing WFI chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh by top female wrestlers to another judge who is already hearing a related matter for further proceedings.
CMM Mahima Rai Singh handed over the task to Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate (ACMM) Harjeet Singh Jaspal to hear the case against Singh by the six wrestlers which came to the forefront after the open support of decorated grapplers including Olympic medallists Bajrang Punia and Sakshi Malik, and Asian Games champion Vinesh Phogat.
The smouldering dissent that filled the sports fraternity for several months was later backed by opposition parties and farmer organisations following which the Delhi Police filed a chargesheet based on the accusations against the WFI head on June 15.
The chargesheet mentioning the offences of sexual harassment and stalking then came before CMM Mahima Rai Singh. This will be dealing now by ACMM Harjeet Singh Jaspal considering the cops’ prosecutor that Jaspal has been handling a related plea by the women wrestlers seeking a court-monitored probe into their allegations. The matter will come before the ACMM on June 27.
It’s pertinent to mention that the police, on June 15, had filed a 550-page report before Delhi’s Patiala House Court seeking cancellation of charges against him filed on the basis of a complaint by a minor wrestler under the POCSO Act, one of the two cases against him. This will be heard on July 4.
A cancellation report is filed in cases where police fail to find corroborative evidence after due investigation. She was among the seven women grapplers who had accused Singh of sexual harassment.
According to police, the report for cancellation of POCSO was submitted “under section 173 Cr PC based upon statements of the complainant i.e., the father of the victim and the victim herself.”
According to Special Public Prosecutor Atul Shrivastava, the police have filed a chargesheet against Brijbhushan for offences under Sections 354 (outraging modesty), 354A (sexually coloured remarks), 354D (stalking) and 506 (1) (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
Under section 354A of the IPC, punishment will be up to one year or a fine, in 354 D it is up to five years and a fine whereas in POCSO Act section-10 punishment is a maximum of seven years which is now in question following the cops’ cancellation report.