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Tokyo Paralympics: Arjuna Awardee Badminton Player Raj Kumar Moves Delhi High Court Challenging Non-Selection

LIVELAW NEWS NETWORK

9 Aug 2021 12:35 PM GMT

    • Tokyo Paralympics: Arjuna Awardee Badminton Player Raj Kumar Moves Delhi High Court Challenging Non-Selection

    After shooter Naresh Sharma, another Arjuna Awardee player has approached the Delhi High Court challenging his non-selection for the Tokyo Paralympics, slated to commence from August 24, 2021.Raj Kumar is aggrieved by the alleged discriminatory exercise of discretion by the Selection Committee of Paralympic Committee of India (PCI) and Badminton Association of India (BAI), in not selecting...

    After shooter Naresh Sharma, another Arjuna Awardee player has approached the Delhi High Court challenging his non-selection for the Tokyo Paralympics, slated to commence from August 24, 2021.

    Raj Kumar is aggrieved by the alleged discriminatory exercise of discretion by the Selection Committee of Paralympic Committee of India (PCI) and Badminton Association of India (BAI), in not selecting and sending his entry for the Tokyo Paralympics, 2020 in Badminton competition of mixed doubles SL 3-SU 5 event.

    "Selection Committee of PCI and BIA of respondent no. 1 and 4 has selected the the Indian Pair rank 31 namely Pramod Bhagat and Palak Kohli over Indian Pair Ranked 6 namely Raj Kumar and Parul Dalsukhbhai Parmar and therefore grave injustice has been caused to him," the plea filed through Sunny K Singla and Himanshu Puri states.
    The matter was heard today by Justice Rekha Palli.
    The counsel appearing for the Badminton Association on advance notice informed the Bench that for selection to the Tokyo Paralympics Games, the players are expected to participate in the "Race to Tokyo Paralympic" event. He explained that this is a series of events held from January, 2019 in which players had to achieve a ranking based on which, the Paralympic Committee of Tokyo games sends invites.
    The counsel clarified that this has nothing to do with other World rankings of the players.
    "These rules are framed by Badminton World Federation and Paralympic committee of Tokyo games. Whoever gets the ranking, gets the invite. We have no role in saying who will get selected," he stated.

    The counsel further informed the Court that the PCI's discretion of recommending names under the bipartite system also falls into play if by merit someone is not available, which was not the case here.

    He added that the Petitioner Ranked 6 in the mixed double event whereas he should have ranked 4 to be selected for the games.

    At this juncture, Advocate Sunny Singla sought to make certain clarifications with respect to the selection procedure.

    Accordingly, the matter has been posted for hearing tomorrow. Meanwhile, the counsels have been asked to file the details of selection procedure for the Court's perusal.

    Read details of Shooter Naresh Sharma's case here. 

    Case Title: Raj Kumar v. Paralympic Committee of India

    Tags
    Tokyo Paralympic GamesBadminton Player Raj KumarDelhi High CourtBadminton Association of IndiaParalympic Committee of IndiaInternational Paralympic Committee
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