Delhi HC grants time to PCI to take instruction on Shooter Naresh Sharma's plea for Tokyo Paralympics
Jul 22, 2021
New Delhi [India], July 22 : The Delhi High Court on Thursday asked the Paralympic Committee of India's Counsel to take instructions on the plea of Naresh Kumar Sharma, five-time Paralympian, Rifle Shooter seeking direction from the PCI to include his name in the list of shooter selected for Tokyo Paralympics in R7 event.
The Bench of Justice Rekha Palli granted time to the Paralympic Committee of India's counsel to take instructions on the issue raised in the petition and listed the plea for further hearing on Jul 27.
Advocate Ajay Digpaul appearing for the Sports Authority of India submitted that the SAI does not have any stake and hold on the PCI.
Advocate Jatan Singh appeared for the petitioner and stated that PCI has violated its own rules and law while selecting one Deepak. The petitioner further stated that the PCI took the Serbia Grand Prix for calculating the final average of the Deepak but Serbia Grant Prix is not a recognised event as per WSPS.
After taking note of that, the Court allowed the petitioner's counsel to amend the memo of parties and implead one Deepak, who has been selected by PCI, to participate in the 2020 Tokyo Paralympics in place of Sharma.
Meanwhile, the Paralympic Committee of India through a press statement vehemently denies all the charges levied by Shooter Naresh Kumar Sharma and reiterated that the selection was fair, impartial and after following due process.
The PCI communication further stated that the petition from Naresh Kumar Sharma is a desperate attempt to create a controversy and nothing else.
Naresh Kumar Sharma's plea stated that the Selection Committee of PCI deliberately and arbitrarily ignored the selection of the petitioner for his participation in the 2020 Tokyo Paralympics in the R7 event.
Sharma's plea filed through Advocates Amit Kumar Sharma and Satyam Singh Rajput further stated that the petitioner fulfilled all the eligibility criteria as laid down by the Sports Technical Committee (STC) shooting of PCI in consonance and in conformity with the eligibility criteria as laid down by WSPS (World Shooting Para Sports).
As per the eligibility criteria for selection in Tokyo Paralympics, the para shooter has to achieve MQS (Minimum Qualifying Score). The petitioner has achieved the MQS in Lima 2021 WSPS World Cup and AL Ain 2021 World Shooting Para Sports World Cup, UAE.
"The petitioner has given remarkable performances in the past and his achievements stand testimony to his consistent performance. The Selection Committee of PCI arbitrarily and without application of mind selected Deepak to participate in the 2020 Tokyo Paralympics in the 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 plea read.
