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The Delhi High Court today sought reply form the Paralympic Committee of India in a plea by Paralympian Naresh Kumar Sharma alleging that the Committee indulged in arbitrariness in selecting another candidate.

He has alleged that the other candidate did not fulfilling the eligible criteria of having performed at an international sporting event for participating in the Tokyo Paralympics, 2020 in R7 event.

The matter was being heard by the single judge bench of Justice Rekha Palli who has listed the matter for next hearing on July 27, 2021.

Advocate Jatan Singh appearing for Sharma submitted that the Committee had violated its own rules and law while selecting another candidate 'Deepak' and took the Serbia Grand Prix event into account for calculating the final average of Deepak which was not recognised as an International event as per World Shooting Para Sports.

The Court has directed the Committe to appear on July 27th with all the relevant documents.

The plea filed by Paralympian Naresh Kumar Sharma has sought directions to the Paralympic Committee of India to allow him to participate in the Tokyo Paralympics, 2020 in R7 event.

The petitioner a 5 time Paralympian (Rifle Shooter) has alleged arbitariness against the Paralympic Committee of India in the selection of athletes for the Tokyo Paralympic Games 2020, Japan. 

The petition filed through Advocates Amit Kumar Sharma and Satyam Singh Rajput  further states that the Selection Process is not fair and transparent since the National Sports Development Code of India, 2011 obligates the National Sports Federation to judiciously select players to represent India on merits for major International events to enhance National prestige and bring glory to the country.

The petitioner says that unfortunately, the Selection Committee of PCI had violated the said Code by not adhering to its purpose and objective. The Selection Committee has ensured that the selection process is not fair and transparent. 

The petitioner has submitted that the Selection Committee of PCI arbitrarily and without application of mind selected Deepak to participate in 2020 Tokyo Paralympics in R7 event in place of competent and deserving Naresh Kumar Sharma. Surprisingly, the Selection Committee PCI selected Deepak for his participation at Tokyo Paralympics not only in the R7 event but also in the events like R1, R3 and R6.

The petitioner has further submitted that Deepak "was sent to participate in Grand Prix Novi Sad WSPS 2021 (Serbia) without any notice to the public in general and shooters in particular with the sole objective to ensure that Mr. Deepak's average gets better than that of the petitioner irrespective of the fact that the said even was not amongst the list of International Sporting Events to which can be used to calculate average score of the shooter. Sending of selected shooter to Serbia clearly shows that the Selection Process of PCI is not fair and transparent."

It has further been submitted that the Selection Committee of PCI was biased towards the petitioner as they consciously and arbitrarily denied the petitioner his legitimate opportunity to participate in the R7 event at Tokyo Paralympics and deliberately did not take into consideration his actual average score.

The petitioner has further informed that a representation was made by way of an email sent to the PCI bringing to their notice the manifest injustice done against Sharma. On July 17, 2020 the petitioner sent an email to Deepa Malik, President of PCI requesting to select him to participate in the Tokyo Paralympics in the R7 event keeping in mind his consistency and Average Score. Unfortunately, no response was received from PCI in this regard. 

The petitioner has thus sought intervention of the Court in the present matter, "as the legitimate opportunity of the petitioner to participate in Tokyo Paralympics in the R7 event and consequently bring laurels to the country will be lost, if the arbitrary, discriminatory and capricious selection of the shooter in R7 event by the Selection Committee of PCI is allowed."

 

Case Title: Naresh Kumar Singh vs Paralympic Committee of India and Ors