The Delhi High Court has directed the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) to take a call on the selection of the 49er FX sailing team for the Asian Games in Jakarta, following a petition by Varsha Gautham who had won the silver ahead of Ekta Yadav, selected by the Yachting Association of India (YAI).
While admitting that the failure to include external selectors from the Union Sports Ministry, Sports Authority of India and IOA, “does not vitiate the selection process”, Justice Vibhu Bakhru said: “this court is certainly not equipped to evaluate the merits of their decision and the same is beyond the scope of judicial review”.
Varsha’s (Sweta Shervegar as crew) petition was the selection policy had categorically mentioned that the team would be selected based on the regatta in Chennai and the Asian Championship in Jakarta.
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“It is apparent from the record — and it is also not disputed — that the selection committee had considered only the selection event (regatta in Chennai) for selecting the sportsperson to represent India. It is also ex facie apparent that the said criteria was not in conformity with the selection policy...” the court noted.
However, the selection committee was of the view that Ekta and Shaila Charles were more consistent, the court noted.