Delhi court adjourns further hearing on chargesheet against Brij Bhushan till Aug 19

New Delhi: A Delhi Court adjourned the further hearing to August 19 on the chargesheet against BJP MP and former Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) President Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh in the alleged sexual harassment case filed by women wrestlers.

The court adjourned the matter for hearing the arguments on charge till next Saturday.

Counsel for Singh opposed the framing of charges against Singh by submitting that since there is no sanction u/s 188 Cr.P.C., the offences alleged to have been committed outside India cannot be tried by this court.

He argued that offences committed outside the local jurisdiction of Delhi, cannot be tried by this court.

Counsel contended that the allegations are barred by limitation. As Section 354A Indian Penal Code (IPC) provides for maximum punishment for 3 years and since the allegations pertain to the period of 2017-18, barring one, and hence, the bar of limitation is applicable.

He further submitted that police report does not furnish any sufficient explanation for the said delay and no generic explanation can be accepted to condone the delay.

He said that it is settled law that if there is an enquiry by Internal Sexual Harassment Committee and in the findings the accused is exonerated, on the same allegations, arising out of same facts, there can be no fresh prosecution.

Government counsel submitted that the submissions made by the Defence counsel are not meritorious. He submitted that the bar of Section 188 is applicable when the offence is committed outside India in its entirety and not otherwise.

He submitted that the offences in question have partly been committed in Delhi and partly outside and therefore, the Delhi Court will have jurisdiction.

The Counsel submitted that the matter at hand squarely falls u/s 354 IPC and having recourse to Section 468(3) Cr.P.C., there can be no questions on the bar of limitation.

He contended that the oversight committee report cannot be called a report which has exonerated the accused, it is merely a departmental enquiry and the same does not bar the jurisdiction of this court.

He requested that the court is duty bound to only see the material on record in the strict brackets of prima facie scrutiny and a mini trial cannot be conducted at this stage.

Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate (ACMM) Harjeet Singh Jaspal after hearing arguments said, ” Ld. Counsel for the complainants submits that the Ld. Senior counsel will be arguing for the complainants and for the said purpose, an adjournment is requested. Not objected. Allowed.

Be put up for further arguments on 19.08.2023 at 11:30 AM.”

The ACMM Court after taking cognizance on the chargesheet issued summons against Singh and his Assistant Secretary Vinod Tomar for his appearance on July, 18 and after appearance on July, 20, it had granted regular bail with the conditions to furnish the personal bond of Rs 25,000. Now the case is at the stage of hearing the arguments on charge.

Chief Metropolitan Magistrate (CMM) Mahima Rai Singh on June, 22 after hearing the submission on behalf of Public Prosecutor transferred the chargesheet into the court of Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate (ACMM) Harjeet Singh Jaspal for hearing.

Delhi Police after investigation, on June 15 filed a chargesheet under sections 354 (Assault or criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty), 354A (sexual harassment), 354D (stalking) and 506 (criminal intimidation) defined under Indian Penal Code(IPC) against Singh.

UNI