“How will Brij Bhushan arrive? Will he give a sound bite?”
“I wish rain does not ruin the picture.”
Scores of mediapersons anticipated how they would go about covering BJP MP Brij Bhushan Singh’s court appearance as it poured – outside a heavily barricaded Rouse Avenue Court in Delhi – on Tuesday afternoon.
The president of the Wrestling Federation of India and his aide and former WFI assistant secretary Vinod Tomar were summoned by the court last week, over a month after a 1,000-page chargesheet was filed against them over alleged sexual harassment and assault.
Singh has been accused under sections 354, 354A, and 354D of the Indian Penal Code, which deal with criminal force for outraging a woman’s modesty, sexual harassment, and stalking, respectively. Tomar has been accused of abetting an offence and criminal intimidation under IPC sections 109 and 506, respectively, in addition to accusations of sexual harassment and outraging a woman’s modesty.
“I could not even get a proper car shot. Is he avoiding the media?” exclaimed a cameraperson from Zee as the BJP MP entered the complex in his white Fortuner, ignoring the posse of mediapersons.
Surrounded by Delhi Police personnel and wearing a white kurta pajama with a gamchha, Singh then entered the court of Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Harjeet Singh Jaspal, followed by Tomar. Singh seemed calm while Tomar appeared stressed even as the Delhi Police and paramilitary personnel formed a human chain outside and junior lawyers tried to stop the media from entering the courtroom.
The accused were represented by advocate Rajiv Mohan, who was the special public prosecutor in the Nirbhaya gangrape case.
Mohan said, “Since the chargesheet is before arrest, I am filing bail bonds.” But the judge asked for the bail application, and turned towards public prosecutor Atul Srivastava, asking for his arguments.
Srivastava opposed the bail. “We have not arrested him. We leave it to my lord. I oppose it with condition that he shouldn’t influence witness.”
During the hearing, Mohan also complained about a “media trial”, with the court subsequently warning the media to be responsible and not to misquote the judges.
The court then granted two-day interim bail to both Singh and Tomar and listed the regular bail plea matter for Thursday.
The FIR against Singh was filed only after the Supreme Court’s intervention in June. The MP was accused of sexually harassing several women wrestlers by many wrestling champions, including Sakshi Malik, Vinesh Phogat, Bajrang Punia, and Sangeeta Phogat, who also protested in the national capital seeking his arrest.
Meanwhile, as the proceedings concluded on Tuesday, Singh was escorted out by security personnel, his lips curled into a smile. Several journalists outside the court’s main entrance had hoped to get a sound bite but later learnt that the MP had already left through another gate.
Newslaundry is a reader-supported, ad-free, independent news outlet based out of New Delhi. Support their journalism, here.
