NEW DELHI: Boxing great Mary Kom will be leading the sports ministry’s panel to manage the day-to-day affairs of the wrestling body amid the #MeToo row.
Earlier in the day, Brij Bhushan who was asked to step aside in view of extortion allegations levied by top wrestlers moved the Delhi HC to seek an FIR against top Indian grapplers. He also said that “media has now transformed itself into Janata Adalat or ‘public court’ and started intervening in the proceedings of the court”.
In his plea, Bhushan has said that Vinesh phogat, who is the first person on his list, started extorting and blackmailing him for resigning from the post of president at the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) on the pretext of protest for sexual harassment on the wrestlers. The plea further alleged that protestor players have crossed their limits to tarnish the reputation and dignity of the WFI chief by publicly making serious allegations of sexual harassment of women wrestlers.
“The vital gap between the convict and accused is completely overlooked by the media by keeping at stake the cardinal principles of ‘presumption of innocence until proven guilty’ and ‘guilt beyond a reasonable doubt,” the plea read.
This move by the WFI chief comes after the wrestlers withdrew their protest in view of the assurance issued by the central govt.
Sangeeta Phogat, Suman Malik, Anshu Malik, and Bajrang Punia are among the other wrestlers that have been mentioned in the plea.