The Delhi High Court on Monday ordered the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) to take a decision within two weeks on the Showcase Notice (SCN) issued to wrestler Vinesh Phogat, declaring her ineligible to participate in domestic competitions due to alleged indiscipline and violations of anti-doping regulations.
The direction was approved by a bench of Justice Suwarana Kanta Sharma while disposing of Phogat’s petition challenging the selection criteria for the Asian Games held by the SCN on May 9 and the WFI, which restricted eligibility to wrestlers who won medals in 2025 while ignoring past performance.
In a show cause notice dated May 9, the WWF alleged that Phogat failed to complete the mandatory six-month notice period required for athletes returning from retirement under United World Wrestling’s anti-doping rules.
She also accused her of lack of discipline, declared her ineligible to participate in local competitions, and described the incident that led to her exclusion from the 2024 Paris Olympic Games as a “national embarrassment” and “unfortunate.”
This was after Phogat’s lawyers, Rajshekhar Rao and Ashta Khanna, urged the court to direct WFI to take a decision on the show cause notice on May 9, as it raised larger legal questions. He also informed the court that after the Asian Games selection trials, the world sports body had issued another case notice to Phogat on June 17 regarding her conduct during the trials. He also said that despite her requests for permission to participate in three international events, the federation did not respond.
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WFI lawyer Hemant Valver informed that the federation will take a decision on the show cause notice within four weeks. He also said that other reliefs sought by Phogat in her petition related to the Asian Games had become futile, as she was allowed to participate in the selection trials but was unsuccessful.
However, Rao pressed for a decision on the strong steering committee to be taken within two weeks.
“Defendant WFI is directed to receive a call on SCN on May 9 within two weeks. The petition is disposed of,” the court said in the order.
Phogat recently revealed that she was among the six women wrestlers who filed sexual harassment complaints against former IBF president Brij Bhushan Charan Singh. Along with Sakshi Malik and Bajrang Punia, she was one of the leading faces of the 36-day protest at Delhi’s Jantar Mantar in April-May 2023 against Singh.
