Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, July 22: The Delhi High Court on Saturday rejected the petitions filed by wrestlers Antim Panghal and Sujeet Kalkal, challenging the exemption granted to wrestlers Bajrang Punia and Vinesh Phogat for direct entry into the Asian Games 2023 by the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) without any trial.
Justice Subramonium Prasad’s bench dismissed the petitions and upheld the decision of the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) to allow wrestlers Bajrang Punia and Vinesh Phogat to represent India at the Asian Games directly.
On Wednesday, wrestler Antim Panghal voiced her concerns through a video communication, questioning the exemption granted to wrestlers Bajrang Punia and Vinesh Phogat for their direct entry into the Asian Games 2023 by the WFI ad-hoc panel.
In a video communication, wrestler Sujeet Kalkal also asserted that Bajrang Punia was permitted to participate in the World Championship without undergoing any trial.
In a detailed order, the Court said the decision taken by the ad-hoc Committee to exempt Phogat and Punia cannot be said to be arbitrary or capricious or perverse. “This Court is not commenting upon the merits of the Petitioners herein who have also excelled in the field of wrestling but this Court is not inclined to sit in appeal over the decision taken by the Committee as the same cannot be said to be arbitrary or perverse… It is neither the contention of the Petitioners nor can it be said that the WFI has acted against the interest of the country or that the decision has been taken because of certain extraneous circumstances or in order to favour anyone,” Justice Prasad noted. Therefore, the Bench dismissed the petition.
Both Phogat and Punia were actively involved in the wrestlers’ protests against outgoing WFI President and BJP Member of Parliament Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh. The IOA’s decision was met with stiff resistance by many junior wrestlers who opposed the decision.
Panghal and Kalkal approached the High Court challenging the entry of Punia and Phogat into the Asian Games without going through the trials. Panghal is the reigning U20 World Champion and Kalkal is the U23 Asian Champion.
The two young wrestlers had said while they have been working hard to “clinch their position,” Phogat and Punia have not participated in any competition this year and did not take part in the national camp. Their plea stated the Phogat and Punia last competed in the Commonwealth Games 2022 and World Championships 2022 and that selection of athletes for an international event without any trial is unfair and discriminatory against other athletes of the same event.
The petitioners demanded that no exemption should be granted to any athlete and trial should be held in fair manner and the whole process should be videographed for transparency.
Wrestler Vishal Kaliraman had also said, “Even I play in the under 65 kg category and for the Asian Games Bajrang Punia has been given direct entry without any trial. They have been staging a protest for a year now, while we have been practising. We appeal for a trial. We don’t want any favour or benefit. At least a trial should be conducted otherwise we are ready to go to court. We will appeal before the court. We’ve been practising for 15 years. If Bajrang Punia denies that he would not play in the Asian Games only then someone else will get a chance.”
Asian Games will be held between September 23 and October 8 at Hangzhou, China. Originally scheduled to take place from September 10 to 25, 2022, the event was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.