The Delhi High Court on Thursday said that in the absence of a competent institution selecting wrestlers for international events, the situation cannot be more ‘painful’.
A bench of Chief Justice DK Upadhyay and Justice Tushar Rao Gedela said that the World Wrestling Institution Accepted only the players selected by the United World Wrestling (UWW) international competitions for international competitions.
However, the bench found that neither the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) reinstated the ad hoc committee to conduct the federation cases nor the Center took any decision to continue the suspension of the federation as per the order of the single judge of the last year’s High Court.
The court is hearing the WFI’s appeal against the order of a single judge passed on the plea of wrestler Bajrang Poonia, Vinesh Phogat, Sakshi Malik and her husband Satyavrat Kadian.
The bench said, “There is no competent institution that can be assigned the task of selection of the team to ensure the participation of wrestlers in international competitions,” said the bench. As far as sports and interest of players are concerned, there cannot be a more tragic situation than this. ”
The single judge, in its interim order on 16 August 2024, restored the IOA ad hoc committee’s authority for the operation of WFI, saying that the federation of the Federation is required to be conducted by the ad hoc committee.
The WFI counsel argued that the Indian wrestlers could not participate in several international competitions as a result of the order of the single judge. Also, their possibilities of participating in the Asian Championships to be held earlier this month have also decreased as the name limit for name ended on March 4 and now UWW has demanded expansion in the deadline.
The bench said, “We only want to ensure participation. March 4 has passed. There is a tournament on 25 (March). Selection will also take time. Remove the solution. ”The court then postponed the hearing on the WFI’s appeal till March 11 as the two sides failed to form a consensus on the issue. The Center’s lawyer said that the officials will decide by March 10 whether the suspension has to continue or not.
