Vinesh Phogat can enter Asiad trials, WFI being vindictive, says Delhi High Court

On May 3, Phogat said she was one of the six women wrestlers who had alleged sexual harassment by former WFI chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, a former MP.

The division bench of Chief Justice D K Upadhyaya and Justice Tejas Karia said, “It is necessary that (Phogat) is permitted to participate in the Selection Trials in the interest of sport and justice. In view of the peculiar facts and circumstances of this case, it is clear that except for (her) motherhood and the SCN issued by WFI, she would be entitled to participate in the Selection Trials. Therefore, the circumstances were beyond her control… It is deemed appropriate to protect the interest of (Phogat) by permitting her to participate in the Selection Trials.”

The bench, which a day earlier had told the WFI that “we will not leave anything to you now,” directed that the selection trial be video-recorded. It asked the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports to nominate two independent observers from the Sports Authority of India and the Indian Olympic Association to observe the selection trials and submit a report to the court.

In first remarks following the order, Sanjay Singh, WFI president, said, “We will follow the court’s order. However, I won’t be able to comment on the specifics as I haven’t seen it yet.”

Phogat, who was on a break from December 2024 – it included a maternity break – had been permitted to participate in tournaments from January 1 this year by the international wrestling body. But the WFI barred her participation and, in the show cause notice, also accused her of indiscipline, of failing to make the weight at the 2024 Paris Olympics.

The bench has now observed that the “standard for Selection Trials, as adopted in the Policy and the Circular, marks significant deviation from the past practice” of the WFI using its discretion to select iconic players for the Asian Games without their participation in coaching to be eligible for the trials.

“…the Policy and the Circular are clearly exclusionary in nature as it does not give any discretion to (WFI) to consider iconic players like Phogat in view of the sabbatical taken on account of her maternity leave. It is a well recognised principle of law that due to maternity, a woman cannot be prejudiced in any manner in terms of her employment, career, ranking and promotion during the period of maternity leave,” the bench said.

In its order, the bench said the WFI’s labelling of her Paris 2024 Olympics exit as a “national embarrassment” was “deplorable”.

“Such observations made in the SCN despite the Award issued by CAS, which clearly held that there was no wrongdoing on part of the (Phogat), appear to be pre-mediated and are ex facie misconceived and ought to have been avoided. Such observations are retrograde and show the malafide intent of (WFI) by being vindictive against (Phogat),” it said.

“In the present case, (Phogat’s) exclusion from the Selection Trials is directly attributable to the sabbatical and temporary retirement from her sporting activities. The duration of her maternity and recovery from the same coincided with the schedule of the Championships, which were required to be participated for meeting the eligibility criteria for the Selection Trials of the Asian Games, 2026 in accordance with the Policy and the Circular….(Phogat) had duly applied for sabbatical during 2025 and, therefore, could not participate in any championship or competition held in that year as (she) gave birth to her first child in July, 2025. (Phogat) had kept informed the ITA and UWW as well as SAI about her sabbatical and also received confirmation on 03.07.2025 that (she) would be eligible to compete from 01.01.2026 onwards,” it said.

While the division bench disposed of her appeal, Phogat’s challenge to the WFI’s policy and circular, as well as the showcause notice, remains pending before a single-judge bench.