Sonali Phogat case: Accused to apply for bail at ‘appropriate time’, says lawyer

Actress and BJP leader Sonali Phogat was dead when she was brought to St Anthony’s Hospital in Goa’s Anjuna in the wee hours of August 23

Sukhwinder Singh, one of the two accused in the alleged murder of actress and Bharatiya Janata Party leader Sonali Phogat, has informed through his lawyer Sukhwant Singh that he will apply for bail “at the appropriate time”.

Late BJP leader Sonali Phogat. (File Photo)

Singh claimed that the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), in its charge sheet filed before the judicial magistrate, established that ‘they failed to add anything substantial’ to the investigation done by Goa Police and are yet to establish a motive for the “crime”.

“The charge sheet filed by the CBI is self-contradictory and if you pursue the sections carefully, they have applied section 36 of the IPC (effect caused partly by act and partly by omission) because they allege that the accuse forcibly administered her with an intoxicating drug, which we dispute...and other omissions, which they say is because the accused failed to provide her with timely medical treatment,” Singh said.

“The implication of this is that the substance which was administered to her was not fatal in nature and that she could have been saved if there was timely medical attention. There is an inherent contradiction in the CBI’s version,” he said.

“We are preparing the documents and will file for bail at an appropriate time,” advocate Singh added.

The defence has sought additional documents and evidence from the prosecution and has formally applied for copies of CCTV footage which the prosecution used to establish their case.

The CBI took over the probe from the Goa Police in early September after the state government acceded to the demands of Phogat’s family and wrote to the Union government seeking the change.

Phogat was dead when she was brought to St Anthony’s Hospital in Anjuna in the wee hours of August 23 after she spent the previous night at Curlies’ beach shack, a nightclub. According to the case, she was allegedly drugged with methamphetamine (MDMA) by her personal assistant Sudhir Sangwan and his assistant Sukhwinder Singh, the two people who accompanied her to the club.

According to the CBI charge sheet, Sangwan and Sukhwinder have been charged under section 302 of the IPC (murder), read with section 34 (common intention) and 36 (effect (in this case death) caused partly by act and partly by omission).