Four years after Sarvjeet Singh was accused of making obscene comments and gestures on a Delhi University student, the 30-year-old man has been acquitted by Tis Hazari Court in this matter.
In August 2015, Sarvjeet Singh was arrested by the Delhi Police after the woman’s Facebook post where she was accusing him of making indecent gestures and obscene comments at a traffic junction at Tilak Nagar, accompanied by his photo, went viral on social media. He was accused of being a “creep” who issued threats to the woman in front of a crowd.
Acquitting Singh under IPC sections 354-(A), 506 and 509, Metropolitan Magistrate Sonam Gupta observed, “Indisputably, a conviction on the sole testimony of the prosecutor can be sustained. However, in the present case, the complainant has made material improvements in her statements. In view of the same, the testimony of the complainant is not trustworthy.
The prosecution had relied on the complainant’s statement, and the witnesses were cops. The Delhi Police counsel had argued that all the witnesses have supported the case and, therefore, Singh must be convicted.
Singh’s counsel Amish Aggarwal pointed out that the incident took place in the middle of the road, but no one from the spot was cited as a witness. Instead of talking to the police, the counsel said that the present case was filed by the complainant to gain publicity on social media. The court agreed with Aggarwal’s argument and said, “No public witnesses were examined in the present case and non-examination of eyewitnesses, who could have supported the case of the prosecution, casts a serious doubt on the case of the prosecution… when the version of the complainant is itself doubtful.”
