The Supreme Court will urgently hear on Monday a plea by shooter Naresh Kumar for a shot at winning a medal for India at the Paralympics Games in Tokyo.
A Bench led by Justice A.M. Khanwilkar has been assigned by Chief Justice of India N.V. Ramana to hear Mr. Kumar's case to include him among the athletes shortlisted to compete at Paralympic Games scheduled to be held from August 24.
Earlier in the day, senior advocate Vikas Singh, for Mr. Kumar, made an urgent mention before the CJI.
Mr. Singh said August 2 was the last date of submission of the list of Indian athletes competing in the Paralympics. The Paralympics Committee of India (PCI) would hand over the list to the International Paralympics Committee (IPC). Mr. Singh had urged the court to list his case in the course of the day.
Mr. Singh said a Division Bench of the Delhi High Court had prima facie favoured his petition in a hearing on July 30, but did not realise the urgency of the case while posting it for hearing next on August 6, days after the expiry of the deadline for submission of the athletes’ list on August 2.
“If heard on August 6, it would render the matter infructuous, owing to the fact that as per the policy of IPC, the deadline to send the name of final selected candidates for participation in the Tokyo 2020 Paralympics is August 2,” Mr. Singh argued.
Mr. Singh said no harm would be done to anyone for including Naresh Kumar, who is qualified to compete, in the list. Mr. Kumar had scored the necessary minimum qualifying scores (MQS) in international and domestic R7 Meter shooting events. Any country can send up to three athletes for an event at the Paralympics.
The Chief Justice Bench, which includes Justice Surya Kant, had collected the case records from Mr. Singh and said that it would evaluate the contents and list it before an appropriate Bench if necessary.
“Petitioner is the only athlete who had two MQS in domestic events as well as international events. The petitioner has previously called out the illegal activities of PCI. The executive body of the PCI specifically held a grudge against the petitioner,” a submission note from Mr. Singh, containing the gist of the petition filed by him for Mr. Kumar, has alleged.