On Thursday, July 20, Delhi’s Rouse Avenue High Court granted bail to outgoing Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh. The court was hearing the regular bail application of Singh in connection with the case pertaining to the alleged harassment of women wrestlers. The Federation’s assistant secretary Vinod Tomar has also been granted bail.
Both were granted bail on a personal bail bond of Rs 25,000 each by the court. While granting bail, the Court placed various restrictions, including that the accused not directly or indirectly encourage the complainants or witnesses and not leave the country without the court’s consent.
The court granted bail to both on a personal bail bond of Rs 25,000 each.
— ANI (@ANI) July 20, 2023
The Court imposed several conditions while granting bail to them and said the accused shall directly or indirectly not induce the complainants or witnesses and shall not leave the country without…
The court has ordered Wrestling Federation of India President Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh not to leave the country without the court’s permission. The next hearing date is July 28, 2023, for document scrutiny.
On Tuesday, the Delhi High Court had granted interim bail to Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh and Vinod Tomar in the case of alleged sexual harassment of women wrestlers.
Delhi HC questions WFI’s decision to grant trial exemption to wrestlers Vinesh Phogat and Bajrang Punia
Meanwhile, Delhi High Court asked Indian Olympic Association (IOA) ad-hoc panel why wrestlers Vinesh Phogat and Bajrang Punia were granted exemption from trials allowing them a trial-free entry in the upcoming Asian Games.
Both wrestlers were granted exemption from trials on Tuesday, sparking outrage. On Wednesday, Under-20 World Champion Antim Panghal and Under-23 Asian Champion Sujeet Kalkal filed a petition in the Delhi High Court, asking the court to overturn the panel’s decision.
Justice Subramonium Prasad of the Delhi High Court has directed the ad hoc panel to submit its response by Thursday.
During the hearing, the court asked the lawyer for the ad-hoc WFI panel to explain the selection process, other than Phogat and Punia being good athletes, because the petitioners’ “entire case” was that “there has to be some kind of trial.”
The Centre’s Additional Solicitor General, Chetan Sharma, informed the court that the selection policy itself provides for an exemption for certain categories of players.
Meanwhile, the petitioners contended that Vinesh Phogat and Bajrang Punia’s trial exemption violated the policy’s conditions.
This comes after wrestlers Antim Panghal and Vishal Kaliraman objected to trial-free entry to Asian Games for Vinesh Phogat and Bajrang Punia.
Antim had released a video statement in which she said, “Vinesh (Phogat) has been given direct entry for Asian Games despite not practicing for the past year. I won the gold medal in the 2022 Junior World Championship. Even in the Commonwealth Games trial, I had a 3-3 bout with her. Then too, I was cheated. I let it go and thought I would compete in Asian Games, but now they say Vinesh has been selected for the tournament. Is this the right way?”
Recently, IOA ad-home Committee announced trial dates for wrestling. The trials have been planned for 22nd July for men’s Greco-Roman and women’s trials. On 23rd July, trials for the freestyle team will take place. The committee will conduct trials in 18 Olympic weight categories.
Notably, the circular issued by IOA noted they have already chosen wrestlers for the men’s freestyle 65 KG and women’s 53 KG categories. However, the remaining six weight categories across the three styles of wrestling will take place as scheduled. The circular did not mention the names of Vinesh and Bajrang, but speaking to PTI, member of the ad-hoc panel Ashok Garg confirmed that the two wrestlers had been exempted from the trials.
