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The Retired justice of Supreme Court Justice Madan B Lokur criticised the way in which the Apex court has been handling the plea by female wrestlers who had moved the top court alleging sexual harassment by Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) president and BJP MP Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh.
The wrestlers in their plea before the top court had highlighted that the Delhi Police was not registering a first information report (FIR) on their complaint of sexual harassment by Singh.
The Supreme Court had last month closed the case before it after noting that the Delhi Police had eventually lodged an FIR and had provided security to wrestlers who had alleged threat to their safety.
Senior Advocate Narender Hooda,appearing for the wrestlers, had requested the apex court that the probe be monitored by a retired judge as the Delhi Police was likely to ‘drag its feet’.
A bench led by Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud had, however, declined the said request.
Justice Lokur opined that the apex court should not have let the Delhi Police get away with the delay in lodging of the FIR.
It should also have monitored the probe to ensure that it does not get derailed, the former judge said.
“I think the Supreme Court should have first of all asked them why did you not register an FIR much earlier?.
[They should have asked] What is the point of telling us today after the matter is before us? Anyways, the Supreme Court did not do that. The Supreme Court accepted the fact that they [survivor-wrestlers] are under threat. It should not have said that if there is anything further, then you (wrestlers) should go to the magistrate or the High Court. The Supreme Court should have said that we would like to monitor the probe so that things do not go wrong,” he stated.
Justice Lokur said that the top court has monitored investigations before too.
The same is done not to ensure that the person against whom allegations are made is convicted but to make sure that the investigation is done properly, he said.
“I think the Supreme Court, in my view, did not fully appreciate the position, and decided not to monitor the probe; I think they should have,” he underlined.
Justice Lokur was speaking at a webinar organised by ANHAD, and the National Alliance of People’s Movement, on the issue: ‘The Wrestlers’ Struggle: Accountability of Institutions’.
Advocates Vrinda Grover and Shahrukh Alam also spoke during the webinar.
Wrestlers including Sakshi Malik and Vinesh Phogat have been on a sit-in protest at Jantar Mantar in Delhi seeking action against Singh.