Delhi court issues notice on women wrestlers’ appeal against Brij Bhushan’s acquittal

A Delhi court on Monday (September 28, 2026) issued notice on an appeal filed by four women wrestlers against a magistrate’s verdict acquitting former Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh in a sexual harassment case.

The criminal appeal, filed on Friday (September 25, 2026), also challenges the acquittal of former WFI assistant secretary Vinod Tomar on the charge of criminal intimidation in the case.

Special Judge Dig Vinay Singh issued notice to Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, Vinod Tomar and the State. The matter has been posted for further proceedings on October 9, 2026.

On August 3, 2026, the magisterial court acquitted Mr. Singh, a former BJP MP, in the sexual harassment case filed by six women wrestlers, including Vinesh Phogat, a world championships medallist, citing lack of evidence. The court has also acquitted Mr. Tomar.

According to the wrestlers’ plea, the acquittal was unsustainable in law and was founded on a “manifestly erroneous and selective appreciation” of the evidence on record. It proceeded on conjectures and surmises, and “failed to apply binding and well-settled principles of law”, the plea said.

The plea said a major portion of the magisterial court’s judgment rested on archaic and stereotypical assumptions about the expected behaviour of victims of sexual assault and harassment, instead of a fair and evidence-based assessment that took the victims’ circumstances into account.