Delhi High Court allows Vinesh Phogat to participate in Asian Games trials; terms WFI action vindictive

The Delhi High Court has allowed wrestler Vinesh Phogat to participate in the Asian Games 2026 selection trials scheduled to be held from May 30.

In a verdict delivered on May 22, a Division Bench of Chief Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya and Justice Tejas Karia noted that Phogat could not meet the Wrestling Federation of India's (WFI) "exclusionary" selection policy only because she was on maternity leave and that motherhood cannot become a ground for exclusion or marginalisation of female athletes like Phogat.

"It cannot be denied that the journey of a female athlete through pregnancy and the post-partum period is one that is marked by extraordinary physical challenges, the magnitude of which is often insufficiently acknowledged within institutional sporting frameworks. We cannot remain oblivious to the physiological realities and disadvantages related to child birth that female athletes undergo during maternity," the Court said.

Notably, the Division Bench also slammed the WFI for issuing a "deplorable" show-cause notice to Phogat and termed the WFI's action as vindictive.

The WFI notice had said that her disqualification from the Paris Olympics for being overweight was a "national shame".

However, the Court took strong objections to the choice of words and said that it revealed mala fides on WFI's part.

"Such observations made in the SCN [show-cause notice] despite the award issued by CAS [Court of Arbitration for Sport], which clearly held that there was no wrongdoing on part of the appellant [Phogat], appear to be pre-mediated and are ex-facie misconceived and ought to have been avoided. Such observations are retrograde and show the mala fide intent of respondent No. 1 [WFI] by being vindictive against the appellant," the Court observed.

The Bench had made similar observations during the hearing of the case on May 22. It had also questioned the Central government over its inaction against WFI for issuing show cause notice to Phogat. 

“These [WFI officials] are the administrators of sports? What action have you [Central government] taken against them? Was the authority of the Department of Sports not aware that such kinds of notices were issued. If she is bringing laurels to the country, will you not give her a chance also? Has she committed any violations? Were you taken into confidence before this policy? This is absolutely a retrograde step and you are sitting silent,” the Court had orally asked during the hearing.

It then proceeded to pass the present order allowing Phogat to participate in the trials.

The Division Bench passed the order on Phogat's appeal challenging a single-judge order refusing relief to her.

According to reports, Phogat was barred from the trials as the eligibility for the wrestling trials was limited to medal winners of certain competitions held in 2025 and 2026.

Phogat did not compete in any of these events. She had announced her retirement following the 2024 Olympics but returned to wrestling in December 2025.

The WFI issued a show-cause notice accusing Phogat of indiscipline, anti-doping rule violations and failure to comply with mandatory return-to-competition procedures after retirement.

According to WFI, Phogat did not complete the required six-month notice period under United World Wrestling regulations before attempting a comeback. The notice also referred to her 2024 Paris Olympics disqualification for being overweight, calling it a "national embarrassment", and alleged “whereabouts failures” linked to anti-doping protocols. 

Phogat rejected the allegations, stating that both the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the International Testing Agency had cleared her to compete from January 2026 onward. She claimed that the Federation was attempting to force her into retirement and described the action as unfair and politically motivated.

On May 21, a single-judge Bench of Justice Purushaindra Kumar Kaurav denied any immediate relief to Phogat, prompting her to approach the Division Bench.

Senior Advocate Raj Shekhar Rao, appearing for Phogat, argued before the Division Bench that the show-cause notice was issued to Phogat 12 hours before an event and that issues of the 2024 Paris Olympics were also raised. He urged that the Court may allow her to participate in the trials, subject to the outcome of her challenge to the new selection policy and circular issued by the WFI.

The Division Bench ruled that "motherhood must be viewed as a natural and deeply significant aspect of life that deserves accommodation and institutional sensitivity".

It added that since the single-judge has issued notice on Phogat's plea challenging the selection policy and the show cause notice issued to her, and listed the case for further proceedings in July, it was necessary that she is permitted to participate in the selection trials "in the interest of sport and justice".

"In view of the peculiar facts and circumstances of this case, it is clear that except for the appellant’s motherhood and the show cause notice issued by respondent no. 1, she would be entitled to participate in the selection trials. Therefore, the circumstances were beyond her control and while the legality of the policy, the circular and the outcome of the show cause notice is examined by the learned single-judge, it is deemed appropriate to protect the interest of the appellant by permitting her to participate in the selection trials," the Court concluded.

It added that the trials will be video recorded by the WFI, and the Central government will nominate two independent observers from the Sports Authority of India (SAI) and the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) to observe the same and submit a report before the single-judge who is hearing Phogat's plea.

Senior Advocate Raj Shekhar Rao with advocates Ritwik Prakash, Vishakha Gupta, Aashita Khanna and Neil M Goswami appeared for Vinesh Phogat.

Advocates Hemant Phalpher and Karishmit Keswani represented the WFI.

Union of India was represented by advocates Udit Dedhiya, Apurva Sachdev and Preyansh Gupta.

[Read Judgment]