The Delhi High Court on Thursday said the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) should frame clear guidelines and timelines to balance the interests of the country and athletes, particularly women returning to competitive sport after pregnancy and childbirth.
Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma made the observations while hearing wrestler Vinesh Phogat’s plea seeking permission to participate in the women’s selection trials for the 2026 Senior World Championships.
The court said the absence of clear guidelines could result in unfairness to athletes who take a break from competitive sport due to maternity.
The judge also lamented that women often have to take a back seat after marriage and childbirth while men continue to progress in their careers.
"This is the problem. A woman, she will get married, she will give birth to a child and in that interim period, men will go and win medals and then they will qualify for something and woman will have to sit back at home and look after the children. There should be something that you have to do about this also, otherwise this is being very unfair.
"In this profession also, when one is practicing law, they go when they have children and when they come back, the clients do not come. This is something that we are trying to address because you have failed to. How unfair can this can be?.... Therefore, you have to make some guidelines which will balance the interest of the country also and person also," Justice Sharma said.
The court said it would pass an order on Phogat’s application.
Phogat’s counsel alleged that the WFI was deliberately targeting the wrestler and had acted arbitrarily by informing her of the selection criteria only on September 7, while the trials are scheduled for September 14.
"This is a case of an institution deliberately targeting me. Prima facie I am able to show malice and bias on their part. WFI has displayed absolute arbitrariness in the case. She was informed of the selection criteria only on September 7 and the trials are scheduled on September 14," he argued.
The WFI, however, told the court that Phogat had not been barred from participating in the trials and could compete if she met the eligibility criteria under its policy.
Its counsel said medal winners from 2025 and 2026 would be eligible and that Phogat could compete, win medals and work her way back through the state and national championships.
"On maternity, there are other wrestlers also. Post maternity, they are also winning medals for India. They get their strength back. They perform well. They get back into 100 per cent shape and then they perform exactly as how they were prior to the pregnancy," the counsel said.
The court questioned this approach and indicated that the federation needed to evolve a mechanism to account for athletes who are unable to participate in competitions because of maternity.
Phogat, in her application filed in a pending petition, has sought a stay on a September 7 WFI circular laying down eligibility criteria for the selection trials to be held at the Indira Gandhi Stadium in Delhi.
The trials are being held for the women’s team for the Senior World Championships in Astana, Kazakhstan, scheduled from October 24 to November 1.
According to Phogat, the circular effectively excludes her because it makes eligibility dependent on participation and performance in specified qualifying competitions, without providing an alternative mechanism for athletes who missed those events due to maternity.
She has argued that she is being excluded not on the basis of sporting merit but because she could not participate in competitions during her maternity-related absence.
The wrestler, who became a mother in July 2025, has also sought formulation of a fair and structured framework for women athletes returning to competitive sport after pregnancy and maternity leave. Her petition seeks transparent and objectively verifiable selection and nomination processes, as well as an alternative mechanism for athletes disadvantaged by maternity-related absence.
On September 1, the High Court had sought responses from the WFI and the Centre on Phogat’s plea.
Phogat has also filed a separate petition seeking quashing of two show-cause notices issued to her by the WFI and the disciplinary proceedings initiated against her. She has alleged that the notices, issued on May 9 and June 17, form part of a continuing pattern of arbitrary and mala fide action aimed at obstructing her return to competitive wrestling after maternity.
WFI’s counsel had earlier said the federation had fixed hearings twice but Phogat had not appeared, and that a final opportunity had been granted.
(With inputs from PTI)
