Two leading athletes, javelin thrower Om Narain and hammer thrower Madhu Kumar, have lost their appeals against the two-year suspensions imposed on them by the National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA).
The athletes had appealed against their suspensions, imposed last April, to the Anti-Doping Appeal panel headed by Justice C. K. Mahajan and the panel which also included Dr S. Ramakrishnan and Olympian athlete Gurbachan Singh Randhawa dismissed their appeals recently.
Both Om Narain and Madhu Kumar, National champions in 2009, tested positive for steroid stanozolol. Om Narain was tested out of competition and Madhu Kumar in competition.
Both argued before the National Anti-Doping Disciplinary panel that they were advised by a Patiala doctor to take testosterone for pain in the knee.
They claimed they had purchased what they thought was testosterone from Rainbow Health Care Medical Store, Lodi Road, Delhi, according to the order of the appeal panel. (The order noted that the store was subsequently raided and an FIR was lodged against the owner.) Both argued through their counsel, Tarunvir Singh Khehar, that they may be given relief under the ‘exceptional circumstances' rule.
No valid prescriptions
The panel found no merit in their arguments. It noted that the athletes had no valid prescriptions and they did not exercise utmost care while taking the drug.
It was also noted that they had tested positive for stanozolol and not testosterone and they could not show how stanozolol had entered their body. The two athletes will be under suspension till December 15, 2011.
Meanwhile, hearing in the Sukanya Mishra case was adjourned on Tuesday before the disciplinary panel headed by Dinesh Dayal.
The National hammer throw champion in 2009 was reported for a steroid (stanozolol) violation last November.
Sukanya's lawyer, Sanjeev Kumar Dubey, attempted to pick holes in laboratory procedures, readings, chain of custody etc, but NADA, supported by Dr Shila Jain of the National Dope Testing Laboratory (NDTL) rebutted the arguments forcefully.
For the first time since September last year, two weightlifters have been reported for anti-doping rule violations. The tests were conducted at the National championships in Udaipur last February.
Bhagat Singh and woman weightlifter Manjot Kaur appeared before a panel headed by Sudhir Nandrajog on Tuesday. Their cases were also adjourned after brief statements by the lifters.
Seven fresh cases
Seven fresh cases were reported to NADA recently by the NDTL including the case of a netball player, Megha Chaudhary, who is among the probables for the Indian team for the Commonwealth Games.
The others were Sanjeev Kumar, Abdul Raham, Pitambar and Mohan Phogat (boxing) and James Laldinpuia and Karan Raj (judo).
