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On Thursday, the Patiala House Court in Delhi granted wrestler Bajrang Punia's request for an exemption. Punia's lawyer claimed that on September 13, 2023, Punia travelled to Kyrgyzstan to prepare for the next Asian Games. He had lately received a summons from the Court in connection with a Defamation matter.
On August 3, 2023, the Patiala House summoned Olympic wrestler Bajrang Punia in a defamation lawsuit brought by wrestling instructor Naresh Dahiya. In a criminal defamation suit, Naresh Dahiya claimed that Bajrang Punia made disparaging comments about him in a press conference on May 10, 2023, during the protest at Jantar Mantar.
The court previously remarked that the pertinent excerpts show that the accused, Bajrang Punia, made mention of a rape case that is currently pending against the complainant (Naresh Dahiya) in Tis Hazari Court.
It is said that Punia specifically mentioned Naresh Dahiya and said the complainant lacked the credibility to oppose the protest because he was personally involved in a rape case. However, during the Court witness recording, Dahiya unequivocally testified that he was exonerated in the aforementioned rape case in 2019 alone, and Punia, who is a member of the same fraternity, was also aware of this information.
The Sports Authority of India (SAI) letter, which said that wrestler Bajrang Punia and his coach Sujeet Maan had been sent for a training camp in Kyrgyzstan on September 13, 2023, in preparation for the next Asian Games, was also represented by Bajrang Punia's attorney during the hearing on Thursday.
