The Supreme Court on Tuesday (July 7) agreed to hear soon the petition filed regarding the selection of India’s dressage (equestrian) team. This petition has been filed by two dressage players Anush Aggarwal and Sudipti Hajela against the decision of Delhi High Court. The Supreme Court has ordered the case to be listed for hearing on July 9.
This case was heard by Justice Ahsanuddin Amanullah and Justice R. Came in front of Mahadevan’s bench. In which a demand for early hearing was made. The bench ordered the matter to be listed for hearing on Thursday (July 9). During this, Justice Amanullah said, ‘This is my favorite game’.
what is the whole matter
Actually the controversy is related to the selection of India’s dressage team for the 2026 Asian Games. Dressage is a sport of horse riding in which the horse and rider perform precisely according to the prescribed sequence in the field. Anush Aggarwal and Sudipti Hajela had filed a petition in the Delhi High Court after being excluded from the selection of the Indian team for the Asian Games.
Dressage players Anush Aggarwala and Sudipti Hajela were not given a place in the final team and were kept in the reserve list. He alleges that the Equestrian Federation of India (EFI) did not follow the rules in the selection process. He approached the court challenging the selection process.
HC decision challenged in Supreme Court
The appeal filed before the Supreme Court challenges the Delhi High Court’s July 6 decision, which had refused to interfere in the selection of India’s dressage team. However, the High Court had found that EFI had failed to comply with certain provisions of its own selection criteria.
What did the High Court say
The Delhi High Court bench, in its judgment given on July 6, admitted that EFI did not follow some of the rules of its selection process. The bench of Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyay and Justice Tejas Karia held that EFI did not follow Section 15A and 15B of its own selection criteria. Under these sections, it was necessary to prepare a list of probable players before the final team. The court said that EFI did not follow the necessary provisions like preparing the list of potential players and making its provisional merit list public.
The High Court rejected EFI’s explanation that there was not enough time to complete the prescribed process. The court said that such reasons do not inspire confidence and EFI showed unnecessary haste in preparing the selection list.
HC did not order to change the team
Even after accepting the shortcomings, the High Court did not order to change the selected team. The court said that July 15 is the deadline to send the final team for the Asian Games. In such a situation, if the selection process is conducted again, India’s participation in the competition may be affected.
Hearing in Supreme Court on July 9
Both the players approached the Supreme Court against the decision of Delhi High Court. He says that when the Court has accepted the irregularities in the selection process, then it is not appropriate to retain the team formed on the basis of the same process. When the matter came before the court on Tuesday, the senior lawyer demanded an immediate hearing. Now the Supreme Court will hear the matter on July 9.
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