The Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) has taken to the Delhi High Court to challenge a recent court order that reinstated the ad-hoc committee formed by the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) to oversee the federation’s operations. The appeal was presented before a bench comprising Acting Chief Justice Vibhu Bakhru and Justice Tushar Rao Gedela, with the hearing set for December 18 due to the unavailability of a lawyer for one of the parties.
This legal challenge stems from an August 16 interim order by a single-judge bench, which countered the IOA’s decision to dissolve the committee following the WFI’s contentious elections last December. The court had then emphasized the necessity of the ad-hoc committee’s role in managing the federation’s affairs in light of the sports ministry’s suspension of the WFI.
The order was a response to a petition filed by prominent wrestlers including Bajrang Punia, Vinesh Phogat, Sakshi Malik, and her husband Satyawart Kadian. These athletes had led protests against the WFI and its then-chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh over allegations of sexual harassment. They also sought legal intervention to invalidate the December 2023 elections, which saw Sanjay Singh, an ally of Brij Bhushan, taking the helm as the new WFI chief.
The Centre had suspended the WFI three days after the election, citing non-compliance with constitutional provisions while making decisions, and had called on the IOA to form a committee to temporarily manage WFI’s activities. However, following a lift of the suspension by the United World Wrestling (UWW) in February, the IOA dissolved the temporary panel on March 18.
