The Delhi High Court on Thursday, January 16 sought the Central Government's selection committee to reconsider the candidature of Paralympian discus thrower Yogesh Kathuniya for the elusive Khel Ratna Award. (More Sports News)
This move comes after Kathuniya, a two-time Paralympic medallist, expressed his outrage on social media, questioning the criteria for awarding the honor. With an impressive record of six international medals, including two ꦐsilver medals at the Paralympics, Kathuniya's exclusion had raised eyebrows.
The court has asked the committee to conduct a fresh scrutiny of Kat𓂃huniya's application and make a suitable decision in accordance with the scheme of Khel ♒Ratna awards.
Justice Sachin Datta presided over the hearing and questioned the extent of judicial authority over award selectio💧ns. Advocate Nitin Yadav, who was 🐻representing Kathuniya, mentioned that a prior ruling to argue that the court could mandate such a reconsideration.
The Delhi HC instructed the Selection Committee to reconsider the Paral❀ympian's application with due regard to the criteria in awards, given the ce♑remony is scheduled to be held on January 17.
Kath𝔉uniya's legal challenge pointed out the꧒ mismatch in the selection process, arguing that despite raking in the highest marks in the award's evaluation score, the former was ignored for award.
Back in December 2024, the two-time Paralympic silver medallist had voiced his disappointment over not being nominated for💞 the prestigious Khel Ratna Award despite his "consistent" performa༺nces on the world stage.
"I do✨n't know what criteria they have set. I even filled the form. It's not like I didn't fill the form. I did everything, but even after getting the highest aggregate marks, I was not nom♕inated this time as well," Kathuniya was quoted in PTI.
"If you look at 2016-2020, there was 𒊎no🧜 favouritism," he said.
"Last time, I remember well, I did not even fill the form for the Arjuna Award, yet I was nominated. There was a policy that if you played in the Paralympics or Olympics and won a medal, you would be directly considered. Why can't you d✤o it this time?
"If you could do it before, why can't you do it 🐈now? What is the use of playing if we must ask for the awards? What value does an award hold if we are begging for it?", he had added.
Who Is Yogesh Kathuniya?
Kathuniya has won six medals at the world level, including two silver in two Paralympics, two silver and a bronze in the World Championship, an𓃲d a silver in the Asian Games.
