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Sexual harassment case: Police chargesheet picks holes in Haryana minister Sandeep Singh’s claims
The FIR against Haryana minister Sandeep Singh, who was also former captain of the Indian hockey team, was registered on December 31, 2022, on the complaint of the junior athletics coach. Singh on January 1 gave up his sports portfolio, saying he has taken the step on moral grounds, and claimed the charges against him were baseless.
The chargesheet filed by the Chandigarh Police in the sexual harassment case against Haryana minister Sandeep Singh contradicts his claims of the victim remaining at his official residence in Sector 7, Chandigarh, for 15 minutes. It says she was there for over an hour in July 2022 when the alleged crime took place.
The chargesheet, a copy of which is with Hindustan Times, does not cite any witness to the alleged crime but relies on her statement given to a judicial magistrate about what transpired inside his official residence during her over an hour stay. It says while during the identification of the scene of crime, the victim, a junior athletics coach, was able to identify the main office, the attached side room as well as the bedroom and attached bathroom and all the connecting passageways, which clearly shows that she had visited the said rooms, contrary to the claims of the minister that the victim only visited his main office cabin. Her presence at the scene of crime on March 2 and July 1 of 2022 has been confirmed by the accused as well, as per police.
The FIR against the minister, who was also former captain of the Indian hockey team, was registered on December 31, 2022, on the complaint of the junior athletics coach. Singh on January 1 gave up his sports portfolio, saying he has taken the step on moral grounds, and claimed the charges against him were baseless. The final report submitted runs into 700 pages and the Chandigarh Police have invoked Sections 354 (outraging woman’s modesty), 354 A, 342 B, 342 (wrongful confinement), 506 (criminal intimidation) and 509 (word, gesture or act intended to insult the modesty of a woman) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). The punishment under Sections 354 of the IPC can range from imprisonment for up to five years, a fine or both.
Coach suffered head injury while fleeing: Police
“…her duration of stay has been affirmed by her ride details as provided by Uber, which shows that the victim was present at the scene of crime for over an hour, rather than for 15 minutes as claimed by the accused. Further, it is contrary to the accused’s claims that the victim had only visited his main office and not the attached cabin or the bedroom.
Moreover, the accused couldn’t explain why he had permitted the victim to meet him after official meeting time, during late evening hours,” the police stated in the challan.
It says the woman’s version has been confirmed by some of the witnesses to whom she had narrated the incident of July 1, 2022. As per data retrieved from the CFSL, a few chats/voice recordings/call recordings have been found, which points towards the fact that the victim had told some people about the sexual harassment incident, the police stated, adding that on July 16, 2022, the coach had shared a photo of her “injured head” with a senior Haryana sports official, Raj Mittan, claiming that the injury was caused while trying to “flee” from his residence.
It said the minister, during the probe, had completely denied having any personal relation with her. However, the CFSL report about the examination of phones of the victim and the minister stated that they were in “regular touch with each other and their relationship was beyond professional interaction”. It even cited accounts of some witnesses, which mentioned that “there was a close relationship between the minister and the victim”.
It says Singh was not being “honest” during investigation and gave “conflicting” statements.
As confirmed by Pankaj Nain, then director sports, Haryana, the accused was taking “an unusual interest” in the victim. The chargesheet, however, notes that witnesses have “corroborated” the sexual harassment incident of July 1, 2022, however, no witnesses, except the victim herself, have affirmed the incident of March 2, 2022.
‘Coach remained in touch with minister even after the incident’
The police claimed that the woman coach didn’t immediately report the sexual harassment incident of July 1, and she was in contact with the accused. “Many incidents like her facing difficulties in accessing the gym facilities at Tau Devi Lal Stadium, refusal of foreign training and finally her transfer to Jhajjar made her lodge a formal complaint with the police,” the police said in its conclusion report.
Sandeep Singh seeks anticipatory bail, court issues notice to police
The district court has issued a notice to the Chandigarh Police regarding the anticipatory bail plea filed by Sandeep Singh.
The police on August 25 had filed a chargesheet in the chief judicial magistrate (CJM) court in Chandigarh.
The accused minister is not arrested by the police. The reason given in the chargesheet is: “Accused had been served a notice u/s 41A, following which he joined the investigation and, therefore, as per guidelines passed by Supreme Court in Arnesh Kumar’s case, accused hasn’t been arrested.”
The court had issued notice to the accused minister for September 16.
However, anticipating arrest from the Chandigarh Police, Sandeep Singh’s counsel filed an anticipatory bail application in the court of additional district and sessions judge on Tuesday.
As per sources, “Singh has mentioned that a false case has been registered against him and that he is innocent and has been cooperating with the investigation. The minister stated in the plea that the police have already submitted a chargesheet and that the case is now listed for hearing and to take protection from court arrest, he is moving this plea.”
The court has issued notice to the Chandigarh Police and the case is now listed for September 13.
