BRIJ BHUSHAN ACQUITTAL CHALLENGED BY WOMEN WRESTLERS IN SEXUAL HARASSMENT CASE

September 25, 2026

NEW DELHI: Four women wrestlers have approached a Delhi sessions court challenging the acquittal of former Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh in a sexual harassment case. The appeal also challenges the acquittal of former WFI assistant secretary Vinod Tomar.

The petition challenges the August 3 judgment of Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate Ashwini Panwar, which acquitted Singh and Tomar after concluding that the prosecution had failed to establish the charges beyond reasonable doubt. The sessions court is scheduled to hear the challenge on Saturday before Special Judge Dig Vinay Singh at the Rouse Avenue Courts.

The wrestlers have argued that the acquittal judgment was legally unsustainable and based on what they described as an erroneous and selective assessment of the evidence. They have also alleged that the trial court relied on what the appeal calls “archaic and stereotypical assumptions” regarding how victims of sexual harassment are expected to behave.

The trial court had cited, among other factors, delays in complaints, continued interactions between some complainants and Singh, and inconsistencies in their accounts while assessing the prosecution case. Singh and Tomar were ultimately acquitted of the charges brought against them.

The case follows the protests by prominent women wrestlers in 2023 and the subsequent Delhi Police investigation. The latest appeal will now be considered by the sessions court, which will decide whether the acquittal should be subjected to further judicial scrutiny.