Women Wrestlers’ Appeal Against Brij Bhushan Acquittal Put Off To Monday

A Delhi court on Saturday deferred the hearing on an appeal filed by four women wrestlers challenging the acquittal of former Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh in a sexual harassment case. The matter will now come up on Monday after the judge was unavailable for judicial training.

The appeal, filed on Friday before the Rouse Avenue court, also challenges the acquittal of former WFI assistant secretary Vinod Tomar on a charge of criminal intimidation. The matter was listed before Special Judge Dig Vinay Singh, but court staff said the judge was away for judicial training.

The wrestlers have challenged the August 3 acquittal by the magisterial court, which had acquitted Singh in the case involving allegations by six women wrestlers, including world championships medallist Vinesh Phogat. Tomar was also acquitted.

In their appeal, the wrestlers have argued that the acquittal was legally unsustainable and based on what they described as a “manifestly erroneous and selective appreciation” of the evidence. They have also alleged that the trial court proceeded on conjectures and surmises instead of applying established legal principles.

A key contention in the appeal is the manner in which the complainants' conduct and testimonies were assessed. The wrestlers have alleged that the judgment relied, in part, on archaic and stereotypical assumptions about how victims of sexual assault and harassment are expected to behave, rather than examining their accounts in the context of their individual circumstances.

The case stems from allegations that emerged publicly in 2023, when several leading Indian wrestlers staged protests at Delhi's Jantar Mantar against Singh, who was then WFI chief.

The legal challenge now puts the August 3 verdict under scrutiny before the sessions court. The court's next hearing on Monday is expected to determine the further course of the wrestlers' challenge.