NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court on Wednesday directed the Selection Committee of the Athletics Federation of India to consider national high jump record holder Tejaswin Shankar’s case to send him for the upcoming Commonwealth Games to be held in Birmingham.
The court on Wednesday directed the Selection Committee to consider on merits the case of the athlete and added that Shankar’s non-participation in the interstate championship shall not be the sole criteria for rejecting him and observed that he is a “medal prospect” and there should not be an ego issue in this matter.
Justice Jasmeet Singh issued notice and sought a response from the Athletics Federation of India (AFI), Ministry of Sports and Youth Affairs and the Selection Committee of the AFI for the senior category on
the petition.
Tejaswin had approached the Delhi High Court challenging his exclusion from Commonwealth Games (CWG) squad because he did not take part in the state championship. However, he had achieved the qualification mark at National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) championships.
In his plea, Tejaswin had sought to direct the AFI not to disqualify him from participating at the CWG 2022 based on non-attendance at the Interstate Senior Athletics Championships, and be allowed to participate based on having met the qualifying standard at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) championships.
“These are record holders and you don’t let them go… He (Shankar) is a medal prospect. Let it not be an ego problem,” the court said.The court was informed by advocate Parth Goswami, representing AFI and Selection Committee, that the final list of athletes had already been prepared and submitted to Indian Olympics Association (IOA).