FPJ Editorial: Police flip-flops vis-a-vis wrestlers

It has become quite usual for the Delhi Police to make contradictory statements on the issue raised by the agitating wrestlers. It is not clear what the police will do during the next fortnight. Will they arrest the Wrestling Federation of India chief and BJP MP Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh or submit a closure report before the court that they did not find anything actionable in the complaints? They may even point to the internal inquiry conducted by the Federation which is believed to have exonerated him. It is a different matter that the witnesses were not able to produce evidence as the inquiry system was prejudiced against the complainants, influenced as it was by the MP, who wields enormous clout. That they had to approach the Supreme Court to get FIRs registered against him tells a story of its own. One of the complaints against him was filed by a minor which attracts provisions under the POCSO Act.

The MP has in a statement said that he is ready to be hanged if he is guilty. Whether he is guilty or not has to be decided through a judicial process. Had the accused been a lesser mortal, he would have been arrested and interrogated. In POCSO cases, arrest of the accused is mandatory. Yet, the police have not summoned up courage to do the needful only because he enjoys the backing of more powerful people. The government did not crown itself with glory when it allowed him to attend the inauguration of the new Parliament building on the very day when the wrestlers had to physically engage with the police. Even now, it is not too late for the government to let the police take action warranted by the kind of charges made against the Wrestling Federation chief.