CHANDIGARH: Haryana CM Manohar Lal Khattar said in the assembly on Monday that he had given the opposition’s clamour for minister Sandeep Singh‘s arrest and resignation over a sexual harassment charge “deep thought” and decided not to ask for his resignation.
The political reprieve coincided with a Chandigarh court issuing summons to the former India hockey captain to appear before it on September 16 to face prosecution in the case slapped on him by a junior coach. Amid the Haryana opposition’s clamour for the arrest of Sandeep Singh after the Chandigarh police recently filed a chargesheet against him in this case, Khattar repeated twice on the floor of the assembly: “After giving deep thought to the issue, I have decided, and it is clear now that Sandeep Singh will not be asked to resign….”
Counsel for the coach Deepanshu Bansal said the challan against the minister was formally presented before the court of ACJM Rahul Garg, who has now issued notice to the minister for appearance in the matter. As per Bansal, the charges have been framed against the minister under Sections 342 (wrongful confinement), 354 (outraging woman’s modesty), 354 A (sexual harassment), 506 (criminal intimidation) and 509 (word, gesture or act intended to insult the modesty of a woman) of the IPC. Sources said the chargesheet is largely based upon the victim’s statement made before the magistrate.
The issue was first raised by Geeta Bhukkal, Congress MLA and former minister during the zero hour of the session, saying that Sandeep Singh has no moral right to continue as minister. She was backed by Kalanaur MLA Shakuntala Khatak and other Congress legislators who even went up to the well of the House.
Speaker Gian Chand Gupta defended the situation by terming the matter as sub judice. Thereafter, former Haryana CM Bhupinder Singh Hooda pointed out that it was the duty of the CM to remove Sandeep Singh from the ministerial berth or ask him to step down on moral grounds.
Initially, Khattar said that he would think over the issue, but when the Congress legislators raised slogans, he stood up and gave a virtual clean chit to the minister. Congress MLA Raghbir Singh Kadian said the CM could not restrain the opposition’s right to raise the issue.
The political reprieve coincided with a Chandigarh court issuing summons to the former India hockey captain to appear before it on September 16 to face prosecution in the case slapped on him by a junior coach. Amid the Haryana opposition’s clamour for the arrest of Sandeep Singh after the Chandigarh police recently filed a chargesheet against him in this case, Khattar repeated twice on the floor of the assembly: “After giving deep thought to the issue, I have decided, and it is clear now that Sandeep Singh will not be asked to resign….”
Counsel for the coach Deepanshu Bansal said the challan against the minister was formally presented before the court of ACJM Rahul Garg, who has now issued notice to the minister for appearance in the matter. As per Bansal, the charges have been framed against the minister under Sections 342 (wrongful confinement), 354 (outraging woman’s modesty), 354 A (sexual harassment), 506 (criminal intimidation) and 509 (word, gesture or act intended to insult the modesty of a woman) of the IPC. Sources said the chargesheet is largely based upon the victim’s statement made before the magistrate.
The issue was first raised by Geeta Bhukkal, Congress MLA and former minister during the zero hour of the session, saying that Sandeep Singh has no moral right to continue as minister. She was backed by Kalanaur MLA Shakuntala Khatak and other Congress legislators who even went up to the well of the House.
Speaker Gian Chand Gupta defended the situation by terming the matter as sub judice. Thereafter, former Haryana CM Bhupinder Singh Hooda pointed out that it was the duty of the CM to remove Sandeep Singh from the ministerial berth or ask him to step down on moral grounds.
Initially, Khattar said that he would think over the issue, but when the Congress legislators raised slogans, he stood up and gave a virtual clean chit to the minister. Congress MLA Raghbir Singh Kadian said the CM could not restrain the opposition’s right to raise the issue.