Charges framed against former Haryana minister in harassment case
The court of additional chief judicial magistrate Rahul Garg also dismissed the discharge application filed by Singh, the complainant’s counsel Deepanshu Bansal said
A local court in Chandigarh on Monday framed charges against former Haryana minister and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Sandeep Singh in an alleged sexual harassment case registered on the complaint of a junior woman coach.
The court of additional chief judicial magistrate Rahul Garg also dismissed the discharge application filed by Singh, the complainant’s counsel Deepanshu Bansal said.
The charges have been framed against Singh under Indian Penal Code (IPC) sections 354 (assault or use of criminal force against a woman with intent to outrage her modesty), 354A (sexual harassment), 354B (assault or criminal force with intent to disrobe), 506 (criminal intimidation) and 509 (word, gesture or act intended to insult the modesty of woman), Bansal said.
Read more: Sexual harassment case: Minister Sandeep Singh may file discharge plea
The court also dismissed the complainant’s plea to add section 376 (rape) in the case, he said, and fixed August 17 as the next date of hearing.
The case stems from allegations of sexual assault made by a junior athletic coach from Haryana against the BJP leader.
Singh, a former Indian hockey captain, dismissed the allegations and said that he has been falsely implicated in the case.
He was booked after the woman’s complaint was registered on December 31, 2022, at the Sector 26 police station in Chandigarh.
Singh, a first-time MLA, was the minister when the complaint was filed against him.
In her complaint, the woman alleged that before her recruitment she had come in contact with him on social media.
In her complaint, she said he had asked her to meet him at his official residence in Chandigarh on March 2, 2022, and July 1, 2022, to verify her job-related documents and molested her.