A Delhi court acquitted former Wrestling Federation of India chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh in a sexual harassment case filed against him by six women wrestlers. Vinesh Phogat, one of the wrestlers who had taken part in protests seeking Sharan’s resignation, said that the complainants were disappointed with the court’s decision and would appeal against the order.

The Bharatiya Janata Party MP said that the judgement was a matter of happiness for him and his supporters. “On the first day, when my first statement came, I had said that if any verdict or any charge is proven, I will hang myself,” he said.

In January 2023, several Indian wrestlers, including medallists Phogat, Sakshi Malik and Bajrang Punia launched a protest against Singh, accusing him of intimidation and sexual harassment.

Seven complainants, including a minor, accused the BJP leader of demanding sexual favours for professional help on at least two occasions, and also reported 15 incidents of alleged molestation and other forms of sexual harassment. He was later cleared with respect to allegations made by one of the women. Read on.

Jan Suraaj party chief Prashant Kishor won Bihar’s Bankipur bye-poll on his electoral debut. The bye-election became necessary after the MLA, Bharatiya Janata Party National President Nitin Nabin, resigned after becoming a Rajya Sabha MP.

The constituency near Patna is considered a stronghold of the Hindutva party. Nabin had held it since 2010, after representing the Patna West seat before its boundaries were redrawn.

In Madhya Pradesh’s Datia, Congress candidate Ghanshyam Singh won the bye-election defeating the BJP’s Ashutosh Tiwari. Despite the setback in the two states, in Gujarat the Hindutva party retained the Manjalpur seat. Read on.

The Supreme Court clarified that states can withdraw first information reports filed against youth protesters wherever permissible, in accordance with the law. The clarification came in response to concerns raised by petitioners that the court’s July 28 order, which allowed states to continue investigations into the FIRs, could hinder the withdrawal of cases.

It also came after the Union government submitted that it was “serious” about its assurance that amnesty would be granted to students who had participated in demonstrations. Read on.

The Assam government invoking the National Security Act against activist Pranab Doley was part of a “growing pattern” of the Bharatiya Janata Party “weaponising extraordinary laws to silence dissent”, alleged the Congress. The Act allows for long periods of detention without trial up to a year.

Doley was arrested on July 12, days after he took part in a protest against a hotel project at Ingle Pathar, a village adjoining the Kaziranga National Park. On July 29, a sessions court in Golaghat granted bail to Doley. A day later, the BJP government in Assam detained him under the National Security Act, alleging that Doley had carried out “suspicious foreign transactions from doubtful sources” in violation of the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act.

Congress MP Jairam Ramesh described the Assam government’s allegations against Doley as “vague and speculative” and claimed that this was a familiar script followed by the Narendra Modi government. Read on.

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