The Delhi High Court quashed a petition opposing the “direct entry” granted to top wrestlers Vinesh Phogat and Bajrang Punia from participating in Asian Games trials. The court dismissed a petition filed by wrestlers Antim Panghal and Sujeet Kalkal.
Justice Subramonium Prasad, while acknowledging the petitioners’ excellence in wrestling, stated that the court would not interfere with the decision taken by an expert committee.
The court acknowledged that both Punia and Phogat are renowned in the world of wrestling and are ranked among the top 10 in the world. Considering the upcoming Asian Games and the risk of injury to these potential medalists, the court found the decision to grant them direct entry to be reasonable and not arbitrary.
“The Ad-hoc Committee of the WFI, which comprises experts in the field of wrestling, have unanimously decided that Respondents No.3 (Punia) & 4 (Phogat), who are elite athletes, should be exempted from selection trials in order to prevent them from suffering any injury in the selection process,” the court said, as quoted by PTI.
“The Asian Games are to begin in about two months’ time and in case injury is caused to the elite athletes, who are medal probables, the time for recovery is extremely low and, therefore, the decision taken by the Committee to exempt Respondents No.3 & 4 from selection trials in order to ensure that they are not to exposed to injuries during trials cannot be said to be arbitrary or capricious or perverse,” the court ruled.
Phogat (53kg) and Punia (65kg) were given direct entry into the Indian squad for the Asian Games by the Indian Olympic Association’s ad-hoc committee on Tuesday, while other wrestlers will have to earn their places in the Indian squad through selection trials on July 22 and 23.
On July 19, Panghal and Kalkal moved the High Court challenging the “arbitrary” exemption and demanded a fair selection process for the quadrennial event.
Senior advocate Arunabh Chowdhury who appeared for the ad-hoc panel running the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) affairs argued that a meeting of the four members of the ad-hoc committee and two chief coaches was held on July 12, and all of them unanimously agreed to keep two weight categories reserved for the elite athletes.
Advocate Hrishikesh Baruah, appearing for the petitioners, assailed the selection of Phogat and Punia on several grounds, including that the general body of the WFI had withdrawn the provision for exempting sportspersons in August 2022.
Olympic bronze medallist Punia and Phogat, who won the 2018 Asian Games gold medal, were at the forefront of the wrestlers’ protest at Jantar Mantar demanding the arrest of outgoing WFI chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh for the alleged sexual harassment of seven women grapplers.