Wrestlers' sexual harassment: HC asks Delhi Police to reply to Brij Bhushan's plea for early hearing
The Delhi High Court on Friday called for responses from both the city police and a group of wrestlers regarding a plea from former Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) chief Brij Bhushan Singh. Singh is seeking an early hearing to quash an FIR filed against him by several women wrestlers. In his application, Singh has requested that the court move up the hearing date for his main petition, currently scheduled for January 13, 2025. He argues that the case is progressing to the stage of recording prosecution evidence in the trial court and that by the time his case is heard in the high court, many witnesses will have already testified.
Justice Manoj Kumar Ohri issued a notice to the Delhi Police and the wrestlers, instructing them to respond to Singh’s request. Singh also asked the high court to direct the trial court to halt proceedings in the criminal case until his pending petition is resolved. The high court has scheduled the hearing for December 16. During the brief court session, Singh, represented by advocate Rajiv Mohan, emphasized that the trial court is treating this as a special case, holding hearings on a weekly basis. He noted that one of the alleged victims has already provided testimony.
Singh’s application asserts that continuing the trial would inflict undue prejudice and mental distress upon him, claiming he has a robust case for quashing the FIR. Previously, the high court had requested responses from the police and the wrestlers regarding Singh’s petition to dismiss the FIR and the charges filed against him in connection with the sexual harassment allegations.
Singh, who previously served as a BJP MP, faced serious accusations of sexual assault from multiple female wrestlers, prompting them to protest for weeks demanding an investigation into his conduct. Following intervention from the Supreme Court in May 2023, the Delhi Police filed an FIR against him.
After the trial court framed charges of sexual harassment, intimidation, and the outraging of modesty against Singh on May 21, he sought redress from the high court in August, asserting his innocence and claiming he was falsely accused. In his plea, Singh alleges that the investigation has been conducted with bias, suggesting that only the accounts of the alleged victims—whom he claims are motivated by revenge—were considered. He contends that the charge sheet submitted to the trial court failed to address the veracity of the allegations.
The petition further argues that the ongoing trial proceedings violate fundamental principles of law and justice, asserting that each alleged incident constitutes a "standalone offence" and does not form a "continuous sequence of events or a part of a single transaction." Additionally, some allegations refer to incidents that occurred outside Indian jurisdiction. Previously, the police had argued in the high court that Singh’s petition was not maintainable. The trial court has also framed charges of criminal intimidation against co-accused Vinod Tomar, the former WFI assistant secretary, who has challenged the charges and the FIR in his own petition.