VIJAYAWADA: Hearing the plea of ace archer Vennam Jyothi Surekha for not considering her name for the prestigious Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award, the Andhra Pradesh High Court on Friday directed the Union Ministry of Sports to consider the application of petitioner for the award and announce the decision by January 8.
Justice N Jayasurya issued notices to Union Sports Minister Anurag Thakur, Secretary, Ministry of Sports, Khel Ratna Award Selection Committee and the sportspersons selected for the award. Further hearing in the case has been adjourned to February 5.
Challenging the award committee not considering her name for the award, she filed a petition in the Andhra Pradesh High Court.Appearing for her, advocate U Sravan Kumar said the committee has selected Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty, who secured less points than her, for the Khel Ratna Award 2023. He listed out various medals and achievements of the ace archer to the court on the occasion. He said the petitioner is an Arjun Awardee.
Further elaborating, he said to consider for the award, medals won by the sportsperson in their respective fields is given 80% weighage while the remaining 20% is at the discretion of the committee. Going by the points secured, the petitioner gets 148.74%, while that of Sairaj and Chirag Shetty are only 58.5%. He argued that the committee has given a go by to the entire process of selection.
A submission was made in this regard to the Sports Ministry on December 14, 2023, but there has been no response, he said.Taking into consideration the preliminary evidence before it, the court observed that the petitioner has the right to make a plea and an in-depth hearing is needed in the case.