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Delhi court accepts police clean chit to ex-WFI chief Brij Bhushan in sexual harassment case under POCSO
On Aug 1, 2023, the minor complainant told the judge she was content with the probe and didn't oppose the police closure report in case against Brij Bhushan.
A Delhi court on Monday accepted the Delhi Police’s closure report, effectively cancelling the sexual harassment case filed by a wrestler against former WFI chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, who was accused of misconduct when the complainant was a minor, according to PTI news agency.
Additional Sessions Judge Gomti Manocha, while accepting the police's report, stated, “Cancellation accepted.”
Earlier, during an in-chamber hearing on August 1, 2023, the complainant—who was a minor at the time of the alleged incident—had informed the then-presiding judge that she was satisfied with the police investigation and had no objections to the report being accepted.
When did Delhi Police file report to drop charges against Brij Bhushan?
On June 15, 2023, the Delhi Police filed a closure report in the case involving a minor wrestler who had accused former WFI chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh of sexual harassment. This move came after the girl’s father made a surprising statement during the investigation, admitting he had filed a false complaint out of a sense of injustice toward his daughter.
While recommending the cancellation of the case involving the minor due to lack of corroborative evidence, the police maintained charges against Singh in the other case under the IPC, dropping those under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act. Under the POCSO Act, a conviction carries a minimum of three years in prison depending on the specific sections applied.
Later, on May 21, 2024, a court framed charges against Singh under IPC Sections 354, 354A, 354D, and 506 — relating to sexual harassment, stalking, and criminal intimidation — based on a separate case filed by six women wrestlers. The police had also submitted a chargesheet against him on the same day.
Singh, a former BJP MP, has denied all allegations. Despite being removed as WFI president last year after months of protests by prominent wrestlers, he continues to face trial in the sexual harassment case filed by several women wrestlers. In May 2023, the court formally framed charges against him, including criminal intimidation. His co-accused, former WFI assistant secretary Vinod Tomar, also faces the same charge.
In 2024 Lok Sabha elections, Singh was not given a ticket by the BJP. Instead, his son contested and won the seat, now serving as the BJP MP from his father's former constituency.
(With PTI, ANI inputs)
