Delhi HC To Hear Wrestlers Petition by Bajrang Punia, Vinesh Phogat Against WFI Elections Today

On Monday, the Delhi High Court is scheduled to review a petition filed by wrestlers Bajrang Punia, Vinesh Phogat, Sakshi Malik, and her husband Satyawart Kadian. They are seeking to invalidate and declare as unlawful the recent elections conducted by the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI).

The petition by the wrestlers, who were at the forefront of last year's protest at Jantar Mantar here demanding the arrest of former WFI chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh for the alleged sexual harassment of seven women grapplers, is listed for hearing before Justice Sachin Datta.

The petition argued that the WFI elections, which took place on December 21, flagrantly disregarded the Sports Code. It requested the court to instruct the federation to refrain from engaging in any activities related to the sport of wrestling.

The present Writ Petition is being filed by the Petitioners inter alia assailing, challenging, and seeking directions against the illegal action of the suspended Wrestling Federation of India conducting selection trials for the Senior Asian Wrestling Championships 2024 and Asian Olympic Games Qualifier Wrestling Tournament notified through its circular Dt. 26.02.2024 against the directives of the Ad-Hoc Committee for Wrestling Federation of India, the petition said.

The Petitioners would like to place on record that apart from them, there are many other athletes/wrestlers who are also facing similar harassment owing to their upright/honest stand against Respondent No. 2/WFI and its officials over the illegalities by Respondent No.2 in collusion and under instructions of Respondent No. 2's/WFI former President and member of Parliament from Kaiserganj constituency namely Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh. 

Every possible means have been deployed by Respondent No. 2/WFI to muffle the voices of the Protesting Petitioners and deprive them from any future scope of participation at the international level irrespective of their merit and competence, it added.