Tokyo refuses to allot additional slot for Paralympian shooter, SC informed

The Supreme Court was informed on Tuesday that Tokyo has refused to allot additional slot for Paralympian shooter Naresh Kumar Sharma who was to be included as additional participant for the upcoming Paralympics in Japan as per the apex courts order to the PCIThe top court granted liberty to Sharma to approach the Delhi High Court and request it to expeditiously take up his appeal against its singlejudge order which had refused to interfere with his nonselection for Tokyo Paralympics scheduled for later this monthA bench of justices A M Khanwilkar and Sanjiv Khanna passed the order after senior advocate Vikas Singh appearing for Sharma said it is a classic case as Tokyo has refused to allot additional slot to the petitioner as there were 10 slots eight for men and two for women participantsThe apex court had Monday ordered the Paralympics Committee of India PCI to immediately include the fivetime Paralympian as an additional participant for the sporting megaevent in Japan which is scheduled to commence from August 24At the outset Singh told the bench on Tuesday that Sharmas appeal pending before a division bench of the high court could be heard Wednesday and it could be decided whether Sharma or the other player should goHe said the high court can also decide whether Sharma can go as a reserve for the ParalympicsReferring to the issue of players being already in bubble Singh said 35 persons have tested positive after reaching thereldquoAccordingly we dispose of this Special Leave Petition SLP with liberty to the petitioner to approach the division bench of the high court and request for taking up the appeal expeditiouslyrdquo the bench said in its orderThe top court was hearing Sharmas plea challenging the July 30 order of a division bench of the high court which had posted his petition relating to his nonselection for the upcoming games for hearing on August 6In his plea filed in the apex court Sharma an Arjuna awardee had said that last date of selection for shooting in Tokyo Paralympic is August 2 and if the matter is heard by the high court on August 6 it would make his petition for selection infructuousSharma had said that a division bench of the high court had on July 30 sought responses of the PCI and the Centre on his appeal against its singlejudge order and posted the matter for hearing on August 6In his plea in the apex court he had said that his counsel had tried for an early date of hearing before the high court since as per policy of PCI the deadline for sending names of final selected candidates for participation in the games is August 2The petitioner humbly seeks intervention of this court in the present matter as the legitimate opportunity of the petitioner to participate in Tokyo Paralympics in R7 event and consequently bring laurels to the country will be lost if the arbitrary discriminatory and capricious selection of the shooter in R7 event by the selection committee of PCI is allowedrdquo said the plea filed in the top courtDuring the July 30 hearing before the high court Sharmas counsel had submitted that the event will start from August 24 and August 2 is the deadline for Tokyo 2020 organising committee to receive sports entry forms submitted by the National Paralympic Committee NPCThe counsel had urged the high court to list the matter on an early date however the bench had said the petitioner should have approached the court a little earlier and not at the last momentOn July 27 the high courts singlejudge order had said that PCIs conduct in relation to the selection of another player over Sharma was ldquounbecoming of a public sporting bodyrdquo which has to maintain a fair transparent and inclusionary approachThe court had however refused to interfere with the selection of the other player over Sharma at this belated stage noting that the shooting team was already in a bubbleIt had however asked the Union Sports Ministry to examine the aspect and take action if necessaryThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever