A court here on Monday (May 26, 2025) 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.
In 2023, several renowned wrestlers – including Sakshi Malik, Vinesh Phogat, Bajrang Punia and Sangeeta Phogat – had protested for months in New Delhi, demanding the arrest of the then BJP lawmaker for allegedly sexually harassing women wrestlers, including a minor. The harassment took place between 2016 and 2019 at the WFI office, at Mr. Singh’s official residence and also abroad, the protesters had alleged.
As the protest continued for weeks, the Sports Ministry had constituted an oversight committee to internally investigate the matter. The police filed an FIR against Mr. Singh after the intervention of the Supreme Court in May 2023. In June, a 1,000-page chargesheet was filed at the Rouse Avenue court.
Within weeks of 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 said that he had made a false complaint of sexual harassment against Mr. Singh to settle scores.
The police had recommended the cancellation of the complaint involving the minor wrestler, saying “no corroborative evidence” was found.
Additional Sessions Judge Gomti Manocha of Patiala House Courts accepted the police report.The court heard the complainant in an in-chamber proceeding where she had submitted in the court that she was satisfied with the Delhi Police’s investigation in the case and was not opposed to the closure report.
Published – May 26, 2025 10:52 pm IST
