The Supreme Court on Tuesday (April 25) said it will hear the plea of seven wrestlers for the registration of an FIR against Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) president Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh over sexual harassment complaints. The Bench, presided by Chief Justice of India (CJI) DY Chandrachud, noted that the allegations are “serious” and added, “The matter in our view requires the consideration of this court”. The apex court also said it would not make the names of the complainants public, directing that “for the purpose of these proceedings, the identity of the petitioners shall be redacted. Only the redacted part of the petition be made available in the public domain”. The wrestlers filed their petition in court after the Delhi Police did not register an FIR against Singh. On April 19, Vinesh Phogat and Sakshi Malik, India’s most-decorated women wrestlers, sat on an indefinite dharna at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi. Speaking to the media on behalf of the victims, Phogat, the country’s only double World Championship medallist, said, “Women wrestlers have been sexually harassed at national camps by coaches and also the WFI president Brij Bhushan Sharan.” The allegations against Singh, a BJP MP, first surfaced earlier this year. Since then he has been denying them, saying, “Is anyone saying that the WFI has sexually harassed a wrestler? Only Vinesh has said it. Has anyone come forward and said that they personally have been sexually harassed? Even if one wrestler comes forward and says that she has been sexually harassed, that day I can be hanged.” Who is Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh? Hailing from Uttar Pradesh’s Gonda, Singh is a six-term MP — five as a BJP member and once, in 2009, as a SP candidate. He represented Gonda and Balrampur in the past, and now Kaiserganj. His son Prateek Bhushan is a two-time MLA from Gonda Sadar. Known for his staunch Hindutva ideology, Singh was part of the Ram Janmabhoomi movement. He was also named in the Babri demolition case, as per his 2019 election affidavit. In 2009, he joined the SP but soon returned to the BJP fold. Speaking to The Indian Express, a party leader close to Singh, said, “He was never a Samajwadi and the ideology didn’t inspire him, so he returned to the BJP”. Although Singh is a career politician, wrestling remains his first love. The BJP MP calls himself “Shaktishali” and has spent much of his youth in the akhadas of Ayodhya. He has been the president of the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) for almost a decade and vice-president of the United World Wrestling-Asia. Singh is known to be deeply involved in the functioning of the federation as he has the last word on all the crucial decisions and attends most of the tournaments, be it national or international, senior or junior. Oftentimes, he is seen holding a microphone during bouts, which he stops and starts according to his whims and fancies. Singh also shouts out instructions to referees and even throws the rule book at judges. When he isn’t physically present at the matches, he oversees the proceedings virtually. During a women’s national championship in Agra in 2021, he told The Indian Express: “In March 2020, we had our national championships in Himachal Pradesh and I couldn’t go there. So, we installed cameras everywhere so I could see everything from my house in New Delhi.” There is no ambiguity about Singh’s tall stature in the world of Indian wrestling — players seek his blessings by touching his feet before a match. When they lose a controversial bout, they tend to approach Singh instead of appealing to the judges, like former CWG medalist Narsingh Yadav did during the national championships last year. “These are all strong men and women,” Singh had said in the 2021 interview, referring to the wrestlers. “To control them, you need someone stronger. Is there anyone stronger here than me?” The BJP MP doesn’t like any interference in his way of functioning. He criticised the government for dealing directly with athletes under its flagship Target Olympic Podium Scheme and said that the federation would keep a check on private, not-for-profit organisations that support the wrestlers. Later, in December 2021, he was made a member of the government’s Mission Olympic Cell, which monitors and plans the preparations for the Olympics.
