HC says endeavour not to find which wrestler is better but to see whether procedure as framed has been followed or not

Appearing for the two petitioner wrestlers–Sujeet Kalkal and Antim Panghal, advocate Hrishikesh Baruah said that WFI’s exemption policy had already been “rescinded” by its general counsel/body in its meeting of August 25, 2022 “unanimously”.

However the senior counsel appearing for the “ad-hoc Committee”, WFI disputed this and said, “I’m stating under instructions that the minutes of August 25, 2022 are not in the file of the WFI.” At this point the HC asked him to file an affidavit by “today evening” on this point.

The senior counsel also stated that in such a matter the HC’s jurisdiction under Article 226 of the Constitution to interfere is “limited” unless the decision is “arbitrary”.

Apart from arguing that his clients were “equally meritorious” Baruah said that among the persons who attended the July 12 ad-hoc committee meeting where Bajrang and Vinesh were “considered for exemption in the selection trial”, two coaches “did not give their consent.”

During the course of the hearing the HC also observed, “The crux of the matter is that you can’t say that the committee which did the selection is acting against national interest and the person selected are such novices that they did not even merit consideration. The reason given is that they don’t want to send the selected two wrestlers for trials as they did not want them to suffer any injury; is that not sufficient enough for the court not to interfere or is it so perverse that it should?”

Among other prayers the plea seeks that the directive for Asian Games trial with respect to the 65kg (free style) and 53 kg (women wrestling) categories be quashed. It further seeks that the exemption granted to Punia and Phogat be also set aside and that the trial process be carried out in a “fair manner under the supervision of WFI qualified referees, umpires and officials” and the same be videographed.

On Tuesday the IOA’s ad hoc committee granted exemption to Punia and Phogat from competing in the selection trials for the Asian Games.The selection trials for the Asian Games will be held in Delhi on July 22 and 23, with Greco-Roman and women’s bouts on the first day while men’s freestyle on the next.

The plea filed through advocate Akshay Kumar states selection of athletes for international events without any trials by the selection committee goes against the “very definition of free and fair selection procedure and is completely discriminatory against other athletes of the same event”.

The petitioners are aggrieved by the WFI’s “Directive for Asian Games 2022 Trials” which categorically states that as per the “WFI Regulations of Selection Trials, the Selection Committee has already selected wrestlers in 65 Kg (Free Style) and 53 Kg (Women Wrestling) for Asian Games”. It further provides that the trial for the said two weight categories will be held and the selected wrestlers will be kept on stand-by.

As per the plea, WFI regulations provide guidelines stating the selection trials are mandatory for Asian Games/Olympics/Commonwealth games. However, the selection committee will have the discretion to select the “iconic players” like medallists of Olympic/World Championship without trials, provided it has been recommended by the Chief Coach/Foreign Expert.

The plea claims that there are no foreign experts and the decision to exempt Punia and Phogat has been taken without any recommendations from the chief coaches and the same is “arbitrary and unfair”. The plea states that while the petitioners have “been working really hard to clinch their position”, Phogat and Punia have not participated in any competition this year and were also not part of the national camp.”