Brij Bhushan gets time to reply to plea against acquittal
A Delhi court on Friday granted former Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh time to file his reply to an appeal filed by four women grapplers against his acquittal in a sexual harassment case.
Special Judge Dig Vinay Singh had on September 28 issued notices to Singh, the State, and former WFI assistant secretary Vinod Tomar.
On Friday, the judge granted Singh time to file a reply and posted the matter for October 28.
When the court asked the Delhi Police if it was going to file an appeal, the public prosecutor said a decision on the issue is yet to be taken, and sought 15 days to inform the court about the decision.
Judge Singh said that once the arguments commence, the proceedings will be held in camera. Singh was in the court when the matter was heard. On August 3, a magisterial court acquitted Singh, a former BJP MP, in the sexual harassment case filed by six women wrestlers, including world championship medallist Vinesh Phogat, citing lack of evidence. A criminal appeal filed on September 25 assailed Singh’s acquittal.
According to the wrestlers’ appeal, the acquittal was unsustainable in law, founded on a “manifestly erroneous and selective appreciation” of the evidence on record, proceeded on conjectures and surmises, and “failed to apply binding and well-settled principles of law.
