A local court has dismissed a plea of the UT Public Prosecutor to frame charges under Section 376, read with Section 511 (attempt to rape), against former Haryana minister Sandeep Singh in a molestation case.
The UT had sought an amendment to the charges framed against the former minister and inclusion of the attempt-to-rape charge. It also pleaded to commit the case to the sessions court for trial.
The UT Public Prosecutor said material already available on the judicial record, including the statement of the victim made under Section 164 of the CrPC and her examination-in-chief recorded before this court, contained clear, consistent and grave allegations against the accused. However Rabindra Pandit, Siddant Pandit and Siddharth Pandit, counsel for accused Sandeep Singh, a former Olympian, opposed the application. They argued that there was no evidence by virtue of which offence under Section 376, read with Section 511 of the IPC, was made out in the present case.
The counsel argued that the complainant failed to mention this fact in her initial complaint lodged with the police on the basis of which the FIR was registered. They argued that a similar application filed by the complainant was rejected by a court in its order dated July 29, 2024.
After hearing the arguments, the court dismissed the application.
The police registered the case against the former minister on a complaint filed by a former coach on December 31, 2022, under Sections 354, 354-A, 354-B, 342, 506 and 509 of the IPC.
In the statement given to the Chandigarh Police, the complainant had alleged that the minister had molested her at his official residence on July 1, 2022. When she resisted, he pushed her and also tore her T-shirt. She, however, managed to escape. The court framed charges on July 29, 2024.
However, Sandeep claimed before the court that he was falsely implicated in the case.
