Delhi HC Refuses To Interfere With Naresh Sharma's Non-Selection For Tokyo Games, Asks Sports Ministry To Examine Complaint

The Delhi High Court on Tuesday refused to interfere with the decision of the Paralympic Committee of India (PCI), the apex body for promotion and development of Para Sports in India to not shortlist the name of Arjuna Awardee and five-time Paralympian shooter Naresh Kumar Sharma for the Tokyo games 2020. The Bench of Justice Rekha Palli, however, directed the Central government to examine the allegations regarding the selection of another shooter being "tailor-made" by the committee. The Bench asked the Sports Ministry to take action if it finds that there was malpractice and favoritism on the part of PCI.The plea before the CourtThe plea had sought direction to the Paralympic Committee of India (PCI) to include his name in the list of selected shooters for Tokyo Paralympics in the R7 event.In his plea moved through Advocates Satyam Singh and Amit Kumar Sharma, Sharma has alleged that the Selection Committee of the PCI in the arbitrary, capricious, and discriminatory exercise of discretion failed to select him for the Tokyo Paralympic Games.The plea averred that he fulfills all the eligibility criteria as laid down by the Sports Technical Committee (STC) shooting of PCI in consonance and in conformity with the eligibility criteria as laid down by WSPS (World Shooting Para Sports).The Petitioner had contended that the Selection Committee of PCI wrongly applied the eligibility criteria specified under the National Sports Development Code of India 2011, while shortlisting the candidates. He had complained that the Committee wrongly selected one Deepak to participate in Tokyo Paralympic in R7 event, in his place.It was his case that to be eligible for participating in the 2020 Tokyo Paralympics, a para shooter must have participated in at least two international competitions approved by the WSPS (World Shooting Para Sports).Singh pointed out that the said Deepak had merely participated in one such event and the Committee has wrongly considered Serbia Grand Prix for calculating his marks, even though the said event is not a part of the recognized WSPS competition in terms of Rule 1.2 and 2.9.The Petitioner further submitted that the Respondents have deliberately set down the criteria contrary to this guideline, prescribing that participation in one international event will be sufficient to make a person eligible.On the other hand, the PCI contended that its endeavor was to select the best candidates for the games and that Deepak was found to be the one with the highest score in the relevant category.It was also informed to the Court that the Serbia Grand Prix was one of the World Shooting Para Sports (WSPS) events in which Sharma voluntarily chose not to participate.Considering the submissions, the court observed that the conduct of the PCI in permitting Deepak to participate in the Serbia Grand Prix after getting clarification from its parent body could not be faulted with by the Court.

Delhi HC Refuses To Interfere With Naresh Sharma's Non-Selection For Tokyo Games, Asks Sports Ministry To Examine Complaint

Sparsh Upadhyay

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