Wrestler Bajrang Punia has approached the Delhi High Court challenging his suspension by the National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA) ahead of the Senior World Wrestling Championships to be held in Albania in October.
Mr. Punia has claimed that the conduct of the agency is in violation of his fundamental rights to practice a profession and earn a livelihood under the Constitution of India.
“The Petitioner will be forced to retire from wrestling due to the arbitrary actions of the Respondent,” his plea said.
“In particular, the Petitioner may lose out on competing at the Senior World Wrestling Championships set to be held in Albania from 28th to 31st October 2024, which is the last major event that he shall have the opportunity to compete in for a period of two (2) years. Consequently, the Petitioner will have no other option but to officially retire from the sport of wrestling,” the plea added.
On June 21, the NADA suspended Mr. Punia for a second time and issued the formal “notice of charge”, rendering him ineligible to train and participate in competitions.
The move came three weeks after an Anti-Disciplinary Doping (ADDP) panel had revoked the earlier suspension on the ground that NADA had not issued a “notice of charge” to the wrestler.
NADA had first suspended Mr. Punia on April 23 for refusal to give his urine sample for a dope test during the selection trials held in Sonepat on March 10. The sport’s global governing body, United Wrestling World (UWW), had also suspended him.
In his petition, Mr. Punia - who was at the forefront of last year’s protest at Jantar Mantar demanding the arrest of then WFI chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh for the alleged sexual harassment of seven women grapplers - argued that NADA has acted in violation of the testing guidelines and protocols.
He has sought for suspension or quashing the June 21 order.
“The present Petition is filed.. by the Petitioner being aggrieved inter alia, by the illegal conduct of the Respondent i.e. the National Anti-Doping Agency of India whilst undertaking the sample collection of the Petitioner by using expired test kits and subsequently suspending him on arbitrary grounds,” the petition said.
Published - September 10, 2024 08:48 pm IST
