Para athlete Siddanna awaits court verdict

KOLKATA: The Karnataka High Court, vide its interim order passed on July 26, has directed the Paralympic Committee of India (PCI), Badminton Association of India (BAI) and Sports Authority of India (SAI) to appear before the court on August 8 over allegations of faulty selection process that was followed to pick the Indian parabadminton contingent for the forthcoming Para Asian Games.
Para-badminton player Siddanna Sahukar of Kalaburagi, in Karnataka, had moved court claiming that he had allegedly not been informed about the selection process in Bengaluru. Sahukar, who is ranked fifth in the country and 45th in the world, had sent emails to these sports bodies, seeking clarification on his non-inclusion in the squad, but got no reply. He tried to reason with the officials after reaching the venue for the selection trials in Bengaluru only to be told that the selection criteria had been changed.
Speaking to TOI, Sahukar said, "I am an international player and have represented the country, but I wasn't informed about the change in selection criteria. I sought clarification from the PCI as well as the BAI through emails but they did not reply. Even if the selection criteria had been changed, why weren't the players informed? I moved the court in desperation after knocking on all doors, but still do not know my fate."
The para-athlete pleaded before the court to grant him a fair chance in the selection trials and prayed for an interim order to re-conduct the process.
Having heard Sahukar's plea, Justice S N Satyanarayana through an interim order asked the three bodies to "…re-conduct selection trials by giving an opportunity to the petitioner to participate in the selection trials for Asian Para Games for 2018."
The judge also observed, "In the worst possible situation at least he is entitled to participate in the selection trials to project himself as an acceptable player to represent the country."
After going through all the records submitted by Sahukar, Justice Satyanarayana said, "If the above facts are to be true, it is really sorry, pitiable and pathetic situation of Indian sports."
Gaurav Khanna, national para-badminton coach and the government observer of BAI's para sub-committee said, "I do not want to comment on this as the matter is still sub-judice. All I can say is that there was no anomaly in the selection process."
However, a source in BAI, on condition of anonymity, said, "Sahukar was not asked to appear for the selection process as his performance had dipped recently. We want only promising players to represent the nation."
Meanwhile, Shah Jahan Bulbul, a para-badminton player from Bengal, too has levelled similar allegations against the BAI. "Like Sahukar, I too was not called for the selection process along with a few players. We should at least be given a fair chance to prove our mettle."
With the matter still pending before the court, the Bengal Paralympic Association (BPA) has not been able to finalise the final list to be submitted to BAI.
As of now, Sahukar and Shah Jahan have to wait till August 8 for the court's directive in this regard.