The Delhi High Court on Friday said it would pass an order on Saturday (July 22) on a petition by Under-20 World Champion Antim Panghal and Under-23 Asian Champion Sujeet Kalkal against the direct entry handed to Vinesh Phogat and Bajrang Punia.
Justice Subramonium Prasad, while reserving the verdict, said, “The endeavour of the court is not to find who is better. The endeavour is to see whether the process has been followed or not”.
Phogat (53 kg) and Punia (65 kg) were given direct entry for the Asian Games by the Indian Olympic Association’s ad hoc committee on Tuesday, while other wrestlers will have to earn their places in the Indian squad through selection trials on July 22 and 23.
Both were at the forefront of the wrestlers’ protest demanding the arrest of outgoing WFI chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh for the alleged sexual harassment of seven women grapplers.
According to WFI guidelines, the selection trials in all weight categories are mandatory. However, the selection committee will have the discretion to select the iconic players like medalists of Olympic/World Championship without trial provided it has been recommended by the chief coach/foreign expert.
The counsel for Panghal and Kalkal claimed there are no foreign experts and the decision to exempt Punia and Phogat has been taken without any recommendations from the chief coaches.
They demanded that the directive issued by the IOA ad hoc committee with regard to the two categories (men’s freestyle 65 kg and women’s 53 kg) be quashed and the exemption granted to Phogat and Punia be set aside.
The plea said while Panghal and Kalkal 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.
