Delhi court accepts closure report seeking cancellation of sexual harassment case against Brij Bhushan

A court here on Monday accepted a closure report filed by the Delhi Police seeking to cancel a sexual harassment case filed by a wrestler, who was minor at the time of lodging the complaint, against former Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) chief and Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh.

Several renowned wrestlers, including Sakshi Malik, Vinesh Phogat, Bajrang Punia and Sangeeta Phogat, had protested for months in New Delhi earlier in 2023, demanding the arrest of the then-BJP lawmaker for allegedly sexually harassing several women grapplers, including a minor.

The harassment took place between 2016 and 2019 at the WFI office, at Brij Bhushan’s official residence and also abroad, the victims had alleged.

As the protest of the grapplers continued for weeks, the Sports Ministry constituted an oversight committee to internally investigate the matter.

The police filed an FIR against Brij Bhushan after the Supreme Court’s intervention in May 2023. In June, a 1,000-page chargesheet was filed at the Rouse Avenue court, and the matter is sub-judice.

Within weeks after lodging the FIR, the Delhi police, in June 2023 filed its closure report in the court in the minor wrestler’s case and sought cancellation of the case involving the girl after her father made a startling claim midway through the probe that he had made a false complaint of sexual harassment against Brij Bhushan to get back at him for perceived injustice to the girl.

The police recommended cancellation of the complaint involving the minor wrestler, saying “no corroborative evidence” was found.

Additional Sessions Judge (ASJ) Gomti Manocha of Patiala House Courts accepted the police report.

The detailed order in the case was awaited till the time of filing this report.

The court heard the victim in an in-chamber proceeding where she had submitted to the court that she was satisfied with Delhi Police’s investigation in the case and was not opposed to the closure report.