A Division Bench of the High Court of Delhi, comprising Chief Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya and Justice Tejas Karia has asked the Union of India (Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports) to see if it can transport six horses to a Selection Trial in venue (in Sweden) in Europe to possibly decide the Indian Dressage team for the Aichi Nagoya 2026 Asian Games.
Hearing a Letter Patent Appeal filed by Anush Agarwalla and another by Sudipti Hajela against a judgement of the Single Bench of the High Court, the Division Bench appeared quite convinced that the Equestrian Federation of India (EFI) had erred in not following its own laid down Selection Criteria.
Anush Agarwalla’s Senior Counsel Rahul Mehra pointed out to the Court that the EFI had wronged the rider on two counts, first by having a selector who was conflicted and then by not holding trials as laid down by Clause 15 b of the Selection Criteria. He submitted that when Anush Agarwalla had flagged the potential conflict with the EFI Ad Hoc Committee Chairperson, she had assured him not to worry.
The EFI counsel Kapil Modi was pressed hard by Chief Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya to explain its decision to do away with the selection trials for the six probables in Dressage. Kapil Modi cited the lack of time between the completion of the qualifying window (June 15) and the last date for submission of final entries (July 1) as the reason.
“The expert body (Selection Committee) was of the view that putting these riders through a competition was impractical because our rider No. 1 is based in the UK. Rider No. 2 is based in Estonia. We have another rider who’s based between the Netherlands and France. Therefore, logistically, it was impossible for us,” he told the Court.
When he added that the Selection Criteria gave EFI the power of the discretion in case of unforeseen circumstances, the Chief Justice observed the decision has to be just, valid and fair. “You have to record it that you are dispensing with the requirement of selection criteria because of this reason,” he observed.
“You say that because the time available for sending the team was very, very little, it was impossible for you to have taken recourse to the procedure as the state in (Clause) 15 b (of the Selection criteria) for organising the competition. Where is that decision that you have by finalising the team because of this reason?”
The EFI Counsel admitted that while it had been discussed in the meeting, the decision to treat the order of merit as final selection has not been recorded in the minutes of the selection committee or the Ad Hoc Committee governing the EFI. “If a trial were conducted, there is a possibility that the team composition may have changed,” the Chief Justice observed.
When the Counsel brought up the EFI’s discretionary powers again, the Chief Justice asked “How many times have you repeated? I am trying to find out what can be done. You might have noticed that we are reluctant to pass an order,” he observed. The Court will resume the hearing tomorrow, with everyone hoping that an amicable solution could be found overnight.
