The Delhi High Court has dismissed a petition by a para athlete challenging a decision and a notification of the Badminton Association of India (BAI) laying down criteria for participation in the selection trials for the Asian Para Games 2023, scheduled to be held in China in October.
The high court said the basis for finalising the criteria is only to ensure that players having probability of winning medals in the Asian Para Games are selected and, therefore, it does not require any interference.
It said that the high court while exercising its jurisdiction under Article 226 of the Constitution does not interfere with the decision arrived at by the experts but it only examines as to whether the decision taken is just, fair and reasonable.
“A perusal of the above (earlier) judgments shows that in matters of selecting the best person to represent the country in the international events, the courts should not interfere with the criteria set out by the experts in the field,” Justice Subramonium Prasad said.
The high court’s decision came while dismissing the petition by badminton player Alphia James challenging the decision taken in a meeting on June 23 and the July 4 notification issued by BAI laying down the criteria for participation in the selection trials for the Asian Para Games to be held in Hangzhou in China from October 20 to 28.
The petitioner said in her plea that she is a top player and has won gold medals in the national para badminton championship in 2021 and was included in the list of probables to represent the country in the 2023 games.
However, the BAI and Paralympic Committee of India (PCI) later introduced a new criteria which made it impossible for several players, especially single wheelchair players, to even get selected for trials, the petitioner submitted.
In an affidavit filed in the high court, the PCI stated that in the discipline of badminton the matters are handled by the respective members of the National Sports Federation and the PCI acts only as a nodal agency in case of multiple disciplinary sports events like the Asian Para Games.
The high court said the decision taken by the representatives of the BAI and PCI in restricting the selection trials cannot be faulted with.
“The minutes of meeting clearly indicates that the basis of forming the criteria is only to have players having probability of winning medals in the Asian Para Games 2023 cannot be said to be against national interest and as stated above, the basis for finalising the criteria is only to ensure that players having probability of winning medals in the Asian Para Games are selected and, therefore, it does not require any interference,” the high court said.
