2 weeks after woman coach suspended: 8 months after FIR, minister Sandeep Singh charged with sexual harassment, assault

Among others the 100-page document, filed in the court of Chief Judicial Magistrate (CJM) Aman Inder Singh Sandhu, has charged the minister under Section 342 (wrongful confinement), 354 (assault on woman) 354A (sexual harassment), 354B (assault on woman with intent disrobe), 506 (criminal intimidation) and 509 (word, gesture or act intended to insult the modesty of a woman) of the IPC.

The Chandigarh Police had on December 31, 2022, lodged an FIR against Singh, a former Olympian and BJP MLA from Pehowa in Kurukshetra. (File)

Written by: Saurabh Prashar

3 min readChandigarhAug 26, 2023 07:52 AM IST First published on: Aug 26, 2023 at 07:52 AM IST

The Chandigarh Police Friday filed a chargesheet against Sandeep Singh, a minister of state in the Haryana government and former captain of the Indian hockey team, nearly eight months after it had booked the BJP leader on charges of stalking, illegal confinement, sexual harassment and criminal intimidation following a complaint from a junior athletics coach.

The action comes two weeks after the woman coach was suspended from the services without citing any reasons.

Among others the 100-page document, filed in the court of Chief Judicial Magistrate (CJM) Aman Inder Singh Sandhu, has charged the minister under Section 342 (wrongful confinement), 354 (assault on woman) 354A (sexual harassment), 354B (assault on woman with intent disrobe), 506 (criminal intimidation) and 509 (word, gesture or act intended to insult the modesty of a woman) of the IPC.

The Chandigarh Police had on December 31, 2022, lodged an FIR against Singh, a former Olympian and BJP MLA from Pehowa in Kurukshetra. He had surrendered his sports portfolio to Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar, a day after the registration of FIR.

A senior police officer, privy to the investigation into the charges levelled against Singh, said the chargesheet was filed after they “found certain evidence” against the minister.

“We have filed the chargesheet through online mode. We are examining all aspects. If needed, we will obtain the prosecution sanction and submit it before the court,” said the officer, requesting anonymity.

Meanwhile, another source said the Special Investigation Team (SIT) of the police “did not find much supportive evidence” during the scrutiny of the cell phones of Singh and of the woman coach. “The chargesheet is based on the testimony of the witnesses. During several rounds of questioning, Singh did not deny the fact that the woman coach had visited his official residence in Sector 7 on July 1 last year — the date on which she alleged that the minister had sexually assaulted her. The fact that Singh had declined to undergo the narco-analysis test is also mentioned in the chargesheet,” the source said.

While Singh has consistently termed the allegations against him as baseless, CM Khattar had said that “levelling allegations against someone and registration of an FIR because of that does not prove anyone guilty”. Khattar had also refused to seek Singh’s resignation from the Cabinet saying that resigning from the minister’s post on moral grounds comes into play only if the person concerned thinks he has made a mistake.

Recently, the woman coach had staged a protest in front of the Chandigarh residence of Khattar while opposing the government decision where Singh was assigned to unfurl tricolour on the occasion of Independence Day at Faridabad. She had also accused senior officers of indirectly pressuring her to not speak against Singh.

On August 11, Haryana sports department director Yashendra Singh issued an order stating that “the services of the junior athletics coach are placed under suspension with immediate effect without prejudice…During the suspension period, she will be entitled for subsistence allowance as admissible under rule 83 of Haryana Civil Services (General) Rules, 2016.”