The Delhi police has finally filed the chargesheet in the alleged case of sexual harassment involving Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) supremo. The next hearing has been fixed for July 4. The police has also filed a cancellation report in the minor’s case in the Delhi Patiala House Courts. A cancellation report, legal experts confirm, is filed in cases when no corroborative evidence is found.
The chargesheet comes at a time when the WFI is bracing for elections, which are to be held on July 6, with the last date for filing nominations fixed for June 19. Also, today, June 15, was the date agreed between the protesting wrestlers, Bajrang Punia, Sakshi Malik and Vinesh Phogat, and Anurag Thakur, the Sports Minister, with the wrestlers agreeing not to stage fresh protests till then.
So will they resume protests if Brij Bhushan gets his family members to contest the elections, or if things don’t go their way? Sakshi Malik, who met Anurag Thakur, categorically stated that the sports minister had assured them that no one remotely connected to Brij Bhushan would be allowed to contest. “Unhone hamse kaha ki koi bhi jinke saath Brij Bhushan Sharan ka kisi bhi tarah link hai unhe contest nahi karne diya jayga [He had told us that no one with any links to Brij Bhushan would be allowed to contest],” said Sakshi. She went on to add: “The sports minister has promised us that the elections will be fair, and good people will be brought to run the WFI. The former President will have no role to play, actively or by proxy.”
With four days still to go for filing of nominations and the chargesheet just submitted alongside the cancellation report, it is to be seen how Brij Bhushan reacts. Will he take the sports minister, his own party colleague, on and get someone from his stable to fight the election, or is this the end for him as a sports administrator?
The country awaits the answer and an end to this controversy.