Hugging, Touching Woman Without Sexual Intent Not An Offence: Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh To Court

BJP MP Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, accused of sexual harassment by women wrestlers, told a court on Wednesday that hugging and touching a woman without sexual intent is not an offence.

His advocate Rajiv Mohan told Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Harjeet Singh Jaspal that he was opposing the framing of charges against the outgoing Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) Chief and co-accused and suspended WFI assistant secretary Vinod Tomar, PTI reported.

Mohan also made a point that the allegations are time-barred. He said, "These cosmetic grounds won't hold that I (complainant) was under threat. If you (complainants) are moving freely and for five years you did not come forward and then saying that you were under threat is not a valid explanation," he said.

He further claimed 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 sanction under. 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," Singh's lawyer told the court.

The legal counsel noted that "wrestling is such an event, mostly coaches are male. Female coaches are rare. If a coach, out of joy, after an achievement, is hugging a player, it can't fall under the category of offence... The event is such and if a male coach hugs a player out of anxiety is not an offence."

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.

The matter will come up for hearing on Thursday.

On July 20, the metropolitan court released Singh and Tomar on bail, requiring them to furnish a bond of Rs 25,000 each. The bail comes with specific stipulations, including obtaining prior court permission before leaving the country and refraining from influencing any witnesses.

Earlier, on June 15, the Delhi Police had filed a charge sheet against the six-time MP. The charges included sections 354 (assault or criminal force with intent to outrage modesty), 354-A (sexual harassment), 354-D (stalking), and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code.