Asian Games 2026: Supreme Court To Hear Anush Agarwalla, Sudipti Hajela's Plea Against Dressage Team Selection

The Supreme Court today agreed to hear the plea filed against selection of India's dressage team for the upcoming Asian Games in Japan.

A petition has been moved before the Supreme Court against the Delhi High Court's order dismissing appeals filed by riders Anush Agarwalla and Sudipti Hajela against their exclusion from the final squad.

Before a Supreme Court's partial working days bench comprising Justices Ahsanuddin Amanullah and Sheel Nagu, senior lawyer for the two players made an urgent mentioning.

"It's my favorite sport," said Justice Amanullah while agreeing to list the petition day after tomorrow.

Just yesterday, a Division Bench comprising Chief Justice D.K. Upadhyaya and Justice Tejas Karia upheld the June 29 judgment of a single judge, which had declined to interfere with the selection process adopted by the Equestrian Federation of India (EFI).

Agarwalla and Hajela, both members of India's gold medal-winning dressage contingent at the 2022 Asian Games, had challenged the June 16 selection list issued by the EFI's ad hoc committee after being named only as first and second reserve riders, respectively.

While dismissing the appeals, the Bench observed that it did not find any infirmity in the preparation of the list of six probable riders. However, it noted that the EFI had failed to strictly comply with certain provisions of its own selection criteria.

Despite these observations, the Court held that ordering a fresh selection exercise at this stage was neither feasible nor in the larger interest of Indian sport. The Bench noted that the deadline for finalising entries was July 15, 2026, making it impossible to organise fresh selection trials.

"Having regard to the deadline of July 15, 2026, it is logistically impractical to conduct a further competition within the time frame available, particularly since the riders and horses are located at different places across the globe and transporting horses from different locations to a common venue for conducting a competition amongst all six probables would not be possible in such a short span of time," the high court observed.

It further held: "We are constrained to refrain from interfering with the impugned judgment. Such restraint is warranted in the larger interest of the sport and to avoid any adverse impact on the prospects of the Indian team participating in the dressage event at the Asian Games." While refusing to alter the selected squad, the Court directed the EFI to ensure strict compliance with its selection criteria in future selections.

The litigation arose after Agarwalla and Hajela challenged multiple aspects of the selection process, including the calculation of Minimum Eligibility Requirements (MERs), interpretation of the selection policy, the absence of additional selection trials, and allegations of bias within the selection committee.

The single judge had earlier rejected all these challenges, holding that the selection process was fair and did not suffer from arbitrariness, perversity or procedural impropriety warranting judicial intervention. The Asian Games are scheduled to be held in Japan from September 19 to October 4, 2026.

What happened in the Delhi High Court previously?

On July 3, the High Court had reserved orders in the plea. It is to be noted on July 2, the Court had sought the personal presence of the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) after the Ad-hoc Committee of the Equestrian Federation of India (EFI) refused to accept the Union government's proposal for an independent evaluation of the rankings of six riders competing for selection to India's dressage team for the upcoming Asian Games.

Notably on June 29, the Court came down heavily on the Ad hoc Executive Committee and the Selection Committee of the EFI, questioning their failure to adhere to the prescribed selection criteria while finalising the Indian Dressage Team for the 20th Asian Games, and had directed the Union of India and the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) to assist the Court on how the alleged illegality could now be remedied.

The Bench had expressed serious concern over the fact that the mandatory selection process under Clause 15 had not been followed. The Court indicated that once the selection criteria had been framed, the authorities were expected to adhere to them and could not selectively ignore provisions while finalising the team.

The Bench also took note of the practical complications now confronting the matter. It observed that several horses and riders are presently stationed in different countries, and any fresh selection exercise would also have to account for international quarantine requirements applicable to horses before the Asian Games.

Bench: Justice Amanullah and Justice Nagu

Mentioning Date: July 7, 2026