Outgoing Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) chief and BJP MP Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, accused in a case of alleged sexual harassment of women wrestlers, on Wednesday, told a Delhi court that hugging or touching a woman without sexual intent is not an offence.
Brij Bhushan made the submissions before Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Harjeet Singh Jaspal through his lawyer while opposing the framing of charges against him, PTI reported.
The court on Wednesday started hearing arguments on the point of whether to frame the charges against Singh and co-accused and suspended WFI assistant secretary Vinod Tomar.
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Advocate Rajiv Mohan, appearing for Brij Bhushan Singh at Delhi’s Rouse Avenue Court, also argued that the allegations of women grapplers against the BJP MP were time-barred.
Bhushan’s lawyer pointed out that the wrestlers saying they did not file the complaint for 5 years because they were worried about their careers is not a proper explanation for the delay. He said that ‘prospective grounds’ are being made now.
Mohan argued that male coaches hugging female wrestlers was normal in events such as wrestling events, where most coaches are male.
“The event is such, it is a wrestling event, most coaches are male, there are rarely any female coaches. There are no restrictions that only female coaches will be there for female players,” the lawyer said.
The counsel added that the court had no jurisdiction to try the case since the “offences are alleged to have been committed outside India”.
“If we take these allegations, Indian jurisdiction only lies in three of these allegations. The offences committed outside India cannot be tried by the court due to the lack of sanctions under it. Two offences are related to Ashoka Road and Siri Fort. Offence at Siri Fort is only of hugging… Touching a woman without a criminal force or sexual intent is not an offence,” he said, PTI reported.
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The court will continue to hear the matter on Thursday.
The metropolitan court had on July 20 granted bail to Singh and Tomar on a bond of Rs 25,000 each with certain conditions, including they shall not leave the country without the court’s prior permission and not offer any inducement to witnesses.
The Delhi Police had filed a chargesheet against the six-time MP on June 15 under sections 354 (assault or criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty), 354-A (sexual harassment), 354-D (stalking) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
(With inputs from PTI)