Madurai
The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court on Friday directed the State to provide appropriate appointment to differently abled athlete A. Gopikannan of Madurai, who has won over 70 medals in international competitions.
A Division Bench of Justices N. Kirubakaran and S. S. Sundar observed that the court hoped that appropriate appointment to the decorated athlete would be made by April 15. Further, the court directed that both the Centre and the State should answer the queries put forth by the court in the case.
The court was hearing the case of Gopikannan, who sought reappointment as watchman. He was dismissed from the post of day watchman in 2014 on the allegation that he had failed to close the shutter of the Madurai District Commercial Complex, where he was engaged.
Taking note of the plight of the petitioner, the court lamented that only cricketers were given star status, while other sportspersons were ignored. Also, the Centre and State were showering benefits on cricketers alone and ignoring the others. “This kind of stepmotherly treatment had to be stopped and the practice deprecated. All sportspersons should be encouraged uniformly,” the court had observed.
The court directed both the Centre and the State to respond to queries on funds allocated for development of sports in the country and if benefits given to cricketers were extended to other sportspersons too. The court had suo motu impleaded the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports and the Sports Development Authority of Tamil Nadu in the case.
