Guidelines to govts to stop discrimination against disabled women athletes

CHENNAI: The Madras High Court directed the Central and the State governments to streamline policy regarding women athletes with disabilities so as to prevent discrimination and encourage them to participate in sporting events. Delivering the final orders on a petition filed by a disabled woman athlete, M Sameeha Barvin of Chennai, Justice R Mahadevan on Monday issued a set of 12 guidelines to the governments.

The governments were directed to prevent or prohibit unfair discrimination against the women athletes with disabilities on the grounds of race, gender, sex, marital status, ethnic or social origin, colour, sexual orientation, age disability, religion, conscience, belief, culture, language, and birth.

The policy should be streamlined to provide adequate financial assistance and all other requisites to women athletes with disabilities, follow proper selection process, provide necessary training, and free medical facilities, provide disabled-friendly materials, clothes, prosthetics, and other accessories required in day to day affairs with incentives to encourage and nurture their excellence.

He said measures should be taken to ensure safety and security of  female athletes with disabilities during travel, to sensitise male counterparts, inculcate a sense of equality, and ensure that all the women athletes, with or without disabilities, are given equal treatment on a par with men.

The petitioner, a hearing and speech impaired person, had prayed for orders to the All India Sports Council for the Deaf to include her name in the final selection list for Fourth World deaf Athletics Championship scheduled to be held in Lublin in Poland in August this year. She said she was ignored despite being the topper in the selection process only because of her gender.

Contempt action against advocate  
Chennai: The Madras High Court initiated contempt proceedings against an advocate who was found in a compromising position with a woman during an online hearing. The court also ordered a probe by the Crime Branch-CID (CB-CID). The Bar Council of Tamil Nadu and Puducherry has barred the advocate from practice. The advocate, RD Santhana Krishnan of Perambur in Chennai, was caught on camera in a compromising position with a woman while the hearing on a case was progressing. A Division Bench of the Madras High Court took suo motu cognizance of the issue.