The Kerala High Court has directed the Union Ministry of Sports and Youth Affairs to consider and take appropriate action on the representation to be filed by Olympian Ranjith Maheswary seeking to review its decision to cancel the Arjuna award conferred on him in 2013.
The court directed the Olympian to file a representation within four weeks before the Ministry. The court issued the directive while disposing of a writ petition filed by him seeking to quash the decision to withdraw the Arjuna award conferred on him.
The court said the matter should be reconsidered by the Sports Ministry. If the petitioner was eligible for Arjuna award, the same should not be denied without valid reasons. The country could honour an athlete only in that manner. Lapse of time was not a criteria to deny an honour, if the petitioner really deserved it.
According to a press release issued by the Sports Minister, the Arjuna award conferred on him was cancelled on charges of doping.
