Is this protest wrestling with obduracy?

Despite these reassuring names in the mix, the wrestlers apparently found the oversight committee not quite empathetic during the inquiry. They even accused a member of the committee of selectively leaking sensitive information to sections of the media. Even more alarmingly, people close to the WFI president, a six-time MP, have apparently been calling the agitating wrestlers’ family members, warning them of dire consequences if the athletes press ahead with the charges.

Attempts to file an FIR have also been stalled by the police, and the agitating wrestlers have had to up the ante and go to the Supreme Court. There, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta told a bench comprised of Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud and Justice P.S. Narasimha that, in the assessment of the Delhi Police, “a preliminary enquiry into certain issues” was necessary before registering an FIR.

Damningly for the review process and its minders, one member of the oversight committee reportedly told the magazine Sportstar that they had signed the final report, submitted to the ministry in early April, under protest.

“I was not allowed to read the final report in full and I had objected [to] it. The report was submitted to the sports ministry on April 5 and that morning, I realised that certain objections I had earlier raised had not been included in the report. When I asked the committee to include these points, this was not done,” the member reportedly said. The committee has apparently not even made any suggestions on the most serious allegations raised by the protesting wrestlers.