The Delhi High Court questioned Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh for repeatedly seeking adjournments in his plea to quash the sexual harassment case filed by women wrestlers. The Court made it clear that there is no stay on the trial court proceedings and listed the matter for further hearing in April.
The Delhi High Court on Thursday strongly objected to repeated requests for adjournment made by BJP leader Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh in his own petition seeking to quash the sexual harassment case filed against him by women wrestlers.
The matter was heard by Justice Swarna Kanta Sharma, who noted that the petition was filed as far back as August 2024 but had not been argued even once till date. Expressing displeasure over the delay, the Court questioned the conduct of the petitioner and his legal team.
During the hearing, the Bench directly asked Singh’s counsel,
“Why are you not arguing this? Since you filed this matter, it has not been argued even once,”
making it clear that the Court was not satisfied with the repeated delays.
The observation came after Singh’s lawyer sought yet another adjournment, citing the unavailability of the senior advocate appearing in the case. While granting time, the Court made it clear that the matter could not be kept pending indefinitely.
The Bench adjourned the case to April 21 but clarified that there is no stay on the proceedings pending before the trial court. This means that the criminal case against Singh will continue without any interruption.
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The case relates to serious allegations of sexual harassment made by six women wrestlers against Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, who is a former Member of Parliament and the former President of the Wrestling Federation of India.
The Delhi Police registered a First Information Report (FIR) against Singh after the women wrestlers approached the Supreme Court seeking action.
Following the investigation, on June 15, 2023, the police filed a chargesheet against Singh for offences under Sections 354 (outraging modesty), 354A (sexually coloured remarks), 354D (stalking), and 506(1) (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code.
In his petition before the Delhi High Court, Singh has sought the quashing of the entire criminal proceedings against him. This includes the FIR registered by the police as well as the trial court order that framed charges against him based on the allegations made by the wrestlers.
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After briefly hearing the matter on Thursday, the High Court stated that the reply filed by the complainant wrestlers would be taken on record. The Court also directed that the trial court records be summoned for its perusal.
The case will now be taken up for further hearing on April 21, with the High Court making it clear that delays will not be encouraged and that the trial court proceedings will continue in the meantime.
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