NHRC issues notice to Sports Ministry over absence of ICC in federations for sexual harassment charges

The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has issued a notice to the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports over reports that several national sports federations, including the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI), do not have an Internal Complaints Committee (ICC) to address sexual harassment charges.

The NHRC has also sent notices to the Sports Authority of India (SAI), the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), and several other federations, alleging that they either do not have an ICC or a functional one as required by law.

This development comes amidst ongoing protests by wrestlers at Jantar Mantar, demanding the sacking and arrest of WFI President and BJP MP Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh over charges of sexual harassment of women wrestlers. The NHRC took "suo motu cognizance of a media report that there is no ICC in the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) as mandated by the Prevention of Sexual Harassment (PoSH) Act, 2013".

The NHRC further stated that "reportedly, the wrestling body is not the only one not having a duly constituted ICC. In addition to it, there are as many as 15 of the 30 national sports federations who do not meet this mandatory requirement."

The absence of an ICC in sports federations goes against the Prevention of Sexual Harassment (PoSH) Act, 2013, which mandates that all workplaces with more than 10 employees must have an ICC to address complaints of sexual harassment.