New Delhi: Former Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) president Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh was acquitted Monday by a Delhi court in a sexual harassment case involving women wrestlers.
Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate Ashwini Panwar of the Rouse Avenue Court pronounced the order Monday at 10.30 am. Singh was present in the court. A detailed judgement is awaited.
Advocates Rajiv Mohan, Rishabh Bhati and Rehan Khan appeared for Singh, a former BJP MP, while the women wrestlers were represented by senior advocate Rebecca John.
The FIR was filed under Sections 354 (assault or criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty), 354A (sexual harassment), 354D (stalking) and 34 (common intention) of the erstwhile Indian Penal Code (IPC).
Singh and co-accused Vinod Tomar were named in the FIR.
In May 2024, the trial court presided over by Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate (ACMM) Priyanka Rajpoot framed charges against Singh under the IPC for offences relating to five complainants, while discharging him in relation to one complainant. Tomar was charged only with criminal intimidation in respect of one complainant.
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How case unfolded
On January 2023 when the new Parliament building was being inaugurated, a few kilometers away, Olympic medal winners Sakshi Malik and Bajrang Punia along with fellow wrestler Vinesh Phogat accused Singh of sexual harassment and abuse of power. The protests were called off that month itself due to the government’s promise of creating an oversight committee to investigate the allegations.
After protests resumed in April over alleged inaction, the wrestlers approached the Supreme Court seeking registration of an FIR. A bench led by then-Chief Justice of India Chandrachud disposed of their pleas after the Delhi Police filed two FIRs.
On 28 April, the Delhi Police’s FIR named Singh and Tomar, the former assistant secretary of WFI, on the basis of complaints filed by seven complainants, including a minor.
The POCSO (Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act) case against Singh was closed in Patiala court in May 2025 after the father of the minor complainant sought a withdrawal from the case.
One of the complainants in the FIR says that the “all the female athletes used to travel in groups whenever they left their respective rooms in order to avoid meeting the accused alone”.
She was first sexually assaulted by Brij Bhushan, she had stated, at an international championship, when he allegedly pulled up her T-shirt and slid his hand down her stomach on the pretext of checking her breath.
“I want the accused to be punished for sexually harassing me and many other female wrestlers, whom he exploits due to his power and position. It is necessary to stop the accused from committing more acts of sexual harassment and exploitation and I request you register a case against him and put him behind bars (sic),” she sought in the complaint.
Another complainant said that sexual harassment and stalking had left her traumatised till today. “That due to inappropriate acts and sexual harassment committed by the accused, I was so traumatised and mentally upset that it was difficult for me to focus and deliver to the best of my ability at various competitions,” she said.
In May 2024, the trial court framed charges against Singh under the IPC for offences relating to five complainants, while discharging him in relation to one complainant. Tomar was charged only with criminal intimidation in respect of one complainant.
Both accused have remained on bail during the trial. In fact, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) did not give Singh a ticket to contest the 2024 Lok Sabha elections from his stronghold constituency of Kaiserganj. Instead, the BJP gave the election ticket to his son Karan Bhushan Singh, who won the seat.
The Sports Ministry formed an Oversight Committee to investigate sexual harassment allegations against Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh while temporarily managing the federation.
During final arguments, Singh argued that the complainants’ testimonies contained material inconsistencies—some complainants changed the dates and locations. Plus, the sequence of alleged incidents during cross-examination and their courtroom testimonies differed from affidavits submitted earlier before the government-appointed Oversight Committee.
Advocates Rajiv Mohan, Rishabh Bhati and Rehan Khan, appearing for Singh, also relied on a plea of alibi in relation to some of the allegations, arguing that prosecution records themselves showed Singh was not present at the location where certain incidents were alleged to have occurred. They submitted that the prosecution failed to first establish his presence before requiring the defence to prove an alibi.
It further argued that the complainants had not reported the alleged incidents for several years and questioned the credibility of the allegations by pointing to their conduct during the intervening period, including public interactions with Singh and statements made in interviews and on social media.
This is an updated version of the article.
(Edited by Tony Rai)
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This man has been protesting his innocence on this matter since time immemorial. All along he has been alleging that it’s just a conspiracy to get him barred from the wrestling body/federation and his political opponents/rivals are behind all this.
Yet the media kept hounding him. Journalists vilified him and attacked the govt for not taking action against him. He was branded a gangster, a mafia don and what not.
For sure, he is no saint. In the world of wrestling in India, there are no saints. Anyone who thinks so is living in fool’s paradise. But he certainly is not the monster that he was portrayed as by vested interests.