Brij Bhushan case: Court cites ‘material contradictions’, calls allegations ‘rehearsed and planned’

A Delhi court last week acquitted former Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, saying in its ruling that the allegations of sexual harassment against him were part of a “deep conspiracy which seems to be politically motivated”, and calling them “false” and “fabricated”, the Hindustan Times reported.

Singh, a former BJP MP from Uttar Pradesh, was acquitted along with Vinod Tomar, former WFI assistant secretary, for lack of evidence, two years after the trial began.

Court Rulings

In a detailed judgement seen by HT, additional chief judicial magistrate Ashwini Panwar notes that, “I have no hitch in saying that the version given by the victims… discredits the prosecution case completely and also shows that the entire allegations are false and fabricated, made against the accused persons in a deep conspiracy which seems to be politically motivated.” The court held that the accused appeared to have been hatched by “coaches of the Mahadev Academy” and two prosecution witnesses.

The court used “material contradictions” between versions of events provided by the witnesses and documentary evidence that was, in their opinion, inconsistent with the alleged dates and circumstances and the absence of contemporaneous complaints as justifications for the acquittal.

It cited one incident, stating that, “In one statement, the incident was stated to have taken place in Turkey in 2015, whereas in the subsequent version, the same was stated to have occurred in Mongolia in 2016.” It also added that, “The discrepancy is not a mere variation in peripheral details; it concerns the fundamental particulars of the alleged occurrence, namely, the country and the year in which the incident purportedly took place.”

The court also stated that an incident that allegedly took place in Siri Fort Stadium in Delhi in a public setting should have eyewitnesses coming forward to depose against the accused, stating that, “it is not the natural conduct of the persons surrounding and watching her suffer; the least they could have done was to get her out of that situation or confront the accused.” It also said that a witness made “no reference” to having seen a forceful hug or any attempt by PW-5 (one of the complainants) to push the accused away.

“Rehearsed and forced”

The judgment further stated that two witnesses had turned hostile during the trial, saying that, “They [hostile witnesses] categorically denied that any sexual harassment had been committed against them by the accused and stated that their statements under Section 164 of the CrPC had been given under pressure or threat.”

The court further observed that before sitting on a dharna, one of the complainants had made no allegations of sexual harassment. “Then the female wrestlers who were selected came forward, and the same/similar allegations were incorporated in the tailor-made formal complaints drafted in a fancy manner, with similar excessive decoration, and the same were filed before the police.”

The judge also noted that there appeared to be a similarity in the allegations" made by all victims, with alleged instances said to have occurred in public places in the presence of several people.

The judge however added that there were material contradictions in the versions provided by the victims and eyewitnesses, enough to create “more than sufficient reasonable doubt in my mind to discredit the prosecution story”. Additionally, the court said that, “The allegations appear to be imperfect to be true, seem rehearsed and well-practised as well as planned, more so when the complaints have been filed after a long period of time.”

Additionally, it said that two of the five victims did not support the case, “Nothing has been proved by the prosecution which shows that these two victims did not support the case of the prosecution due to an overt act attributable to the accused persons.” It also noted that after examination, the subsequent conduct of the witnesses following the alleged incidents showed “cordial relations” at public functions.