New Delhi, March 1 (IANS): A court here Saturday asked Delhi Police to file a status report on protection given to witnesses in a case against Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) parliamentarian Dhananjay Singh and his wife for torturing their maid.

While hearing Singh's bail application, Additional Sessions Judge Lokesh Kumar Sharma directed police to file a status report on the compliance of an earlier order by a magisterial court in November 2013, where the judge directed police to protect the witnesses in the case.

Singh's counsel S.P.M. Tripathi requested the court to release Singh on bail.

He told the court that the witnesses were already granted protection by police and there was no chance for his client to influence them.

The court posted the matter for March 21 to commence arguments.

The court had last week rejected the bail plea of Dhananjay Singh, accused of destroying evidence to shield his wife, who was arrested for torturing her maid leading to her death.

The court had said the position of victims was weaker as compared to the accused and intimidation of witnesses could not be ruled out.

Dhananjay Singh, sitting MP from Uttar Pradesh's Jaunpur, was charge-sheeted Feb 1 along with his wife Jagriti for various offences, including destroying evidence and abetting murder and attempt to murder.

The BSP leader and his wife Jagriti Singh, a dental surgeon in a government hospital here, were arrested in November 2013 and are currently in judicial custody.