New Delhi, Jul 2 (PTI) The Delhi High Court on Thursday sought the presence of Indian Olympic Association (IOA) CEO Raghuram Iyer before it to resolve the dispute concerning the selection of the dressage team for the upcoming Asian Games.
A bench of Chief Justice D K Upadhyaya and Justice Tejas Karia passed the order after the IOA-appointed ad hoc committee running the Equestrian Federation of India (EFI) turned down the Centre’s proposal to appoint an independent expert to evaluate the rankings of the selected athletes.
The court requested the CEO’s presence on Friday for the hearing on appeals by riders Anush Agarwalla and Sudipti Hajela, who have challenged a single judge’s June 29 verdict refusing to interfere with the selections.
The senior counsel for Agarwalla and Sudipti Hajela agreed to the Centre’s suggestion.
The court observed that the Centre’s proposal was prima facie a “welcome step” in clearing the impasse and expressed its displeasure at the stand taken by the EFI’s ad hoc committee to contest the appeals on merit.
“The kind of stand taken by the ad hoc committee… why are you making it an ego issue? Are you connected with any athlete? No.
“Then what is the difficulty? We are not saying anything on the evaluation or the selection process,” remarked the bench.
It also strongly objected to the appearance of selection committee member and lawyer Kapil Modi, against whom Agarwalla has alleged bias on account of a litigation between them on behalf of the ad hoc committee.
Questioning whether it was not a conflict of interest, the court said Modi should not have appeared as counsel in the matter.
Modi, who informed the court that the chairperson of the EFI ad hoc committee wanted to contest the appeals on merit, said he had recused himself from the selection process.
“You ought not have appeared as counsel… We can see through things. Don’t make it so apparent.
“Why should you appear here? If you recused from the selection process, you should have recused here also,” the bench said.
The court also questioned how the ad hoc committee was running the affairs of the EFI even after the expiry of its three-month term.
“On the directions of this court, the IOA appointed the ad hoc committee on March 27, 2026. The term of the ad hoc committee was three months, which has come to an end,” it said.
Noting that the IOA has supervisory powers over the ad hoc committee, the bench ordered, “We request the President of IOA to nominate its CEO to be present before the court for assisting in the matter so that an amicable solution can be found to the issues.” The court clarified that in case the CEO was not available, the IOA president may nominate some other official to attend the proceedings.
On June 29, the single judge had upheld the EFI’s selection process for the Asian Games dressage team, dismissing petitions filed by riders Anush Agarwalla and Sudipti Hajela.
The single judge had held that the selection criteria were applied fairly and there was no arbitrariness, perversity or procedural impropriety warranting judicial interference.
Both riders had challenged the June 16 selection list issued by the EFI’s ad hoc committee for the dressage event at the Asian Games in Japan, where they were placed as reserve riders — Agarwalla as first reserve and Hajela as second reserve — while four riders were selected ahead of them.
The case arose from the selection of India’s dressage team for the Asian Games to be held in Japan from September 19 to October 4. PTI ADS ADS KSS KSS
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