Supreme Court Intervention
The Supreme Court of India agreed on Tuesday to hear an appeal from Asian Games gold-medal-winning riders Anush Agarwalla and Sudipti Hajela regarding their exclusion from the national dressage squad for the upcoming Games in Japan.
A partial working day bench of Justices Ahsanuddin Amanullah and Sheel Nagu scheduled the hearing for Thursday, July 9, after being informed that the team selection must be finalized by July 15. The bench directed the registry to place the matter before the appropriate bench for further proceedings.
High Court Dismissal
The top court’s decision follows a July 6 ruling by a division bench of the Delhi High Court, which declined to overturn the non-selection of the two riders. Although the High Court noted that the Equestrian Federation of India failed to comply fully with certain clauses in its selection guidelines, it concluded that organizing a fresh selection trial before the July 15, 2026 deadline was logistically impossible.
According to the High Court, because the six short-listed riders and their horses are currently stationed in different locations worldwide, transporting them to a single venue for a new competition on short notice was not feasible. Despite refraining from altering the selection list, the High Court ordered the federation to strictly adhere to its selection standards in the future.
Prior Legal Challenges
The division bench’s ruling upheld a June 29 decision by a single-judge bench, which had dismissed the initial petitions filed by Agarwalla and Hajela. The single judge had determined that the federation’s selection process was executed fairly, finding no signs of arbitrariness, perversity, or procedural errors that would justify judicial intervention.
The two riders had contested the June 16 selection list published by the federation’s ad-hoc committee. That list placed four other competitors in the primary dressage squad, designating Agarwalla as the first reserve and Hajela as the second reserve.
Riders’ Grievances
In their petitions, Agarwalla and Hajela raised multiple objections to the selection process. These included issues with how Minimum Eligibility Requirements were calculated, how selection rules were interpreted, the lack of additional trials, and allegations of bias within the selection committee. The single judge rejected all of these claims before the riders appealed to the division bench.
