The Supreme Court directed the Paralympic Committee of India to recommend five-time Paralympic shooter Naresh Kumar Sharma as an additional participant in the 50mt shooting event (officially the event is called R7) for the upcoming Paralympic Games that will be held in Tokyo which is slated to begin on August 24. Sharma is a para shooter with 90% disability.
The top court's decision gives Sharma, an Arjuna and Rajiv Gandhi State Sports awardee, a shot at participating at the Tokyo Paralympics later this month. Senior advocate Vikas Singh assured the top court that Sharma would immediately isolate himself for five days and get the relevant RT-PCR tests done in accordance with the covid protocols set by the Tokyo Olympics association.
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Sharma had filed an appeal in the Delhi High Court alleged that the Paralympic Committee of India (PCI) - the selection panel, had made an "arbitrary and biased" decision by excluding his name for the Paralympics despite him fulfilling all the eligibility criteria. On July 27, a single bench of the high court had observed that there was merit in Sharma's argument but did not interfere with the PCI's final decision. Sharma had then approached a division bench of the high court challenging the single bench order against non-interference.
The division bench led by Chief Justice DN Patel had issued notice on July 31 listed the matter for further hearing on August 6. However, senior advocate Vikas Singh, representing Sharma, mentioned the matter before Chief Justice of India NV Ramana this morning since the deadline to send the final names to the Olympic association expires today. Taking note of the urgency of the situation, the matter was listed before Justice AM Khanwilkar at 2 pm.
Singh submitted that any delay in hearing Sharma's appeal would be counter-productive and he would "miss the bus" to represent India at the international games.
The top court's ex parte direction came after the Paralympic committee refused to participate in the afternoon proceedings.
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On July 27, a single bench of the Delhi High Court had observed that PCI's decision to select another player Deepak over Sharma was "unbecoming of a public sporting body", which had to maintain a fair, transparent, and inclusionary approach.
The high court had further observed that prima facie there was merit in Sharma's argument which said the PCI selection committee had adopted different standards while selecting Deepak versus other para shooters. The court had however refused to interfere with the final decision.
In light of the top court's Monday decision, India will now be represented by two shooters – Sharma and Deepak, since it can send three names per event.
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