Wrestlers' sexual harassment case against Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh was political, false and fabricated: Delhi court

A Delhi court has observed that the wrestlers' sexual harassment case against former Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) chief and BJP MP Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh was "false and fabricated" and seemed to be "politically" motivated.

Singh and co-accused Vinod Tomar, who is the former Assistant Secretary of the WFI, were acquitted by the Court on August 3.

The Court order, which has not been made public, shows that two wrestlers whose allegations formed the basis of the charges against Singh turned hostile and did not support the prosecution's case.

Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate (ACJM) Ashwini Panwar of the Rouse Avenue Courts observed that the allegations against Singh appeared to be rehearsed, well-practised and planted, more so when the complaints have been filed after a long period of time.

The Court concluded that the allegations against Singh are false and fabricated and made collectively at the instance of a wrestler who had accused him of sexual harassment, a male wrestler and coaches of the Mahadev Academy.

"Keeping in view the aforesaid authority, I have no hitch in saying that the version given by the victims ** and ** [the two wrestlers who turned hostile] discredit the prosecution case completely and also show that the entire allegations are false and fabricated made collectively at the instance of ** [one of the wrestlers who accused Singh of sexual harassment] and ** [a male wrestler] and the coaches of Mahadev academy against the accused persons in deep conspiracy which seems to be motivated politically. Both ** and ** [wrestlers who turned hostile] were projected as victims right from the inception; however, they appeared before the court and were eventually counselled. They categorically admitted that no sexual harassment acts were committed against them...," the Court order states.

The case pertains to sexual harassment allegations raised by six women wrestlers against Singh. Based on their complaints, the police had registered a first information report (FIR) against the MP.

On June 15, 2023, the police filed a chargesheet against Singh for offences under Sections 354 (outraging modesty), 354A (sexually coloured remarks), 354D (stalking) and 506(1) (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

The trial court had, on May 10, 2024, framed charges of sexual harassment and outraging modesty of women against Singh for harassing five women wrestlers.

It was held that there was sufficient material on record to frame charges against Singh for the offences punishable under Sections 354 and 354A of the IPC.

The Court also said that there was sufficient material to frame charges against Singh for the offence punishable under Section 506(1) (criminal intimidation) of the IPC with respect to two wrestlers.

The Court charged Vinod Tomar with the offence of criminal intimidation for threatening one of the victims.

A minor wrestler had also levelled allegations against Singh. However, she later withdrew her complaint and the Delhi Police filed a cancellation report in that case under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO Act). The case was subsequently closed.

However, the Court, in its order of August 3, acquitted both Singh and Tomar.

It held that before the wrestlers sat on dharna (protest) in 2023, there were no allegations of sexual harassment against Singh by PW 5 (one of the woman wrestlers) and "no name of any female wrestler who had faced alleged sexual harassment had been mentioned".

"Then the female wrestlers who were selected came forward and then same/similar allegations were incorporated in the tailor made formal complaints drafted in fancy manner with similar excessive decoration and the same were filed on 21.04.2023, before the police," the Court observed.

It added,

"To say this, I draw strength from the fact that out of five victims on whose allegation charges were framed against the accused persons, two have not supported the case of the prosecution, and they stated that they were forced/pressured to give their statement at the instance of PW 5 and PW 10 [the wrestler's husband]," the Court said.

Ultimately, the Court held that the prosecution had failed to establish the allegations against Singh and Tomar beyond reasonable doubt. Therefore, it acquitted them.

Advocates Rajiv Mohan, Rishabh Bhati, Rehan Khan and Suryansh Singh appeared for Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh.

Senior Advocate Rebecca John with advocates Bhavook Chauhan, Harsh Bora, Chinmay Kanojia and Anushka Baruah appeared for the wrestlers.

State was represented through advocate Manish Rawat.