Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, the outgoing president of the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) and a BJP member, testified before a Delhi court on Wednesday that embracing or otherwise touching a lady without any sexual motive is not illegal.
Through his attorney, Singh submitted the arguments before Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Harjeet Singh Jaspal in opposition to the establishment of charges against him.
On Wednesday, the court began hearing arguments over whether or not to charge Singh and co-accused WFI assistant secretary Vinod Tomar.
Singh’s attorney, Rajiv Mohan, further informed the court that the accusations were time-barred.
Court lacked the authority
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The attorney continued by saying that because the “offenses are alleged to have been committed outside India,” the court lacked the authority to hear the case.
“If we consider these allegations, just three of them fall under Indian jurisdiction. Due to a lack of legal authority, the court cannot try offenses committed outside of India. There are two crimes connected to Siri Fort and Ashoka Road. The sole offense at Siri Fort is cuddling… It is not illegal to touch a lady without using force or with sexual intent, he declared.
Hugging is not imappropriate
“Wrestling is such an event, and coaches are typically men,” Mohan continued. Women who coach are uncommon. Hugging a player in celebration after a success by a coach cannot be considered an offense. When a male coach hugs a player out of anxiety, it’s not considered inappropriate.
On Thursday, the court will continue to hear the case
On July 20, the metropolitan court granted Singh and Tomar bail in exchange for a 25,000 bond each, with the caveat that they were not to leave the country without the court’s prior approval and were not to offer any inducements to witnesses.
The six-time MP was charged by the Delhi Police on June 15 with violating the Indian Penal Code’s sections 354 (attack or criminal force on a woman with the purpose to violate her modesty), 354-A (sexual harassment), 354-D (stalking), and 506 (criminal intimidation).
