Supreme Court refuses to lift stay on Wrestling Federation of India polls; asks AP Wrestling Association to move High Court

The Supreme Court on Tuesday refused to lift a High Court-ordered stay on the conduct of the elections of the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI). [Andhra Pradesh Amateur Wrestling Association v. Haryana Wrestling Association and ors].A Bench of Justices Abhay S Oka and Pankaj Mithal asked the petitioner to move the Punjab & Haryana High Court, which had granted the stay on the WFI polls. The petitioner was advised to seek impleadment as a party in the High Court case and press for vacation of the stay there."Instead of applying to the High Court for vacating of the interim relief, the petitioner has chosen to file this SLP on August 17. We, therefore, decline to entertain this SLP under Article 136 of the Constitution. However, it will be open for the petitioner to be impleaded before the High Court and file an application for vacation of stay. We are sure that the High Court will give necessary importance to the matter," the order said..The Bench was hearing an appeal challenging a Punjab & Haryana High Court order from earlier this month that had stayed the WFI polls, scheduled to be held on August 12. That order came in a petition raising grievance over the ineligibility of the Haryana Amateur Wrestling Association to participate as a part of the electoral college..The stay by the High Court was objected to by the Andhra Pradesh Amateur Wrestling Association, which filed the appeal before the Supreme Court. The appellant's counsel pointed out that the WFI had now been derecognised by United World Wrestling, which was a national shame. It was submitted that the polls should go on and that the top court had earlier lifted such a stay.Senior Advocate Dama Seshadri Naidu with Advocate Anuj Tyagi appeared for the Andhra Pradesh Amateur Wrestling Association.Senior Advocate Ranjit Kumar appeared for the Haryana Wrestling Association, while Attorney General R Venkataramani appeared for the Union of India..This is the second time the Andhra Pradesh Amateur Wrestling Association has moved the Supreme Court in connection with stays on WFI polls.In July, the top court had lifted a stay imposed by the Gauhati High Court on elections to the WFI's executive committee..On a related note, WFI's former chief, Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh stands accused of sexual harassment by various female wrestlers.After a criminal complaint was lodged by the Delhi Police in the matter, the Supreme Court had closed the proceedings before it which had alleged police inaction in the case.The police recently filed its chargesheet in the case, implicating the Kaiserganj Member of Parliament for the offences of outraging a women's modesty, criminal intimidation, making sexually coloured remarks, and stalking.Olympian wrestlers including Sakshi Malik and Vinesh Phogat had earlier this year carried out a sit-in protest at Jantar Mantar in Delhi seeking action against Singh.