‘Rehearsed, well-practised, planted’: Court on allegations against Brij Bhushan
A court has acquitted former WFI president Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh of sexual harassment charges, labeling the allegations as 'rehearsed' and 'planted.' The judge cited significant contradictions in witness testimonies and inconsistencies in the timeline of events.
Why it matters
This verdict concludes a high-profile legal battle involving prominent figures in Indian sports, raising questions about the judicial process in cases of sexual harassment.
NEW DELHI: A court, which last week acquitted former BJP MP and former Wrestling Federation of India president Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh for lack of evidence, held that the sexual harassment allegations against him were “rehearsed and well-practised as well as planted” and appeared to be part of a “deep conspiracy, which seems to be politically motivated”.Additional chief judicial magistrate Ashwani Panwar observed in the 239-page order, “The allegations appear to be imperfect to be true, seem rehearsed and well-practised as well as planted, more so when the complaints have been filed after a long period of time.”The court on Aug 3 acquitted Singh of “all charges” under IPC sections 354 (assault or criminal force to a woman to outrage her modesty), 354A (sexual harassment) and 506 (I) (criminal intimidation), and former WFI assistant secretary Vinod Tomar of charges under IPC 506 (I).The court cited material contradictions in the successive…
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