On 11th September, the Delhi High Court served notice to the National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA) in response to a plea from Congress leader and wrestler Bajrang Punia challenging the provisional suspension for refusing to provide a sample for a dope test. He was not, however, granted any temporary respite by Judge Sanjeev Narula, who scheduled the next hearing for October and told the wrestler to press his complaints before the disciplinary panel constituted by NADA.
Senior Advocate Rajiv Dutta who represented the wrestler sought interim relief but the court declined to issue any orders. Bajrang Punia, per him, never declined to provide his sample and instead, he merely wanted an update from NADA authorities addressing his objections about the alleged use of out-of-date kits in earlier drug tests.
He is prepared to provide his sample, according to the senior counsel who added that the wrestler’s career will come to an end if he is unable to compete in the next Senior World Wrestling Championships. The bench did observe that the petition contained no request for temporary relief. The NADA attorney, on the other hand, countered that the matter would go before a panel that had already been created for the final hearing. It was pointed out that athletes competing at the Olympic level could not refuse to provide a sample when asked by the officials.
The lawyer highlighted, “We (NADA) will not want any of our athletes to be put in a bad position. He (Bajrang Punia) is saying that he is being targeted but this is not correct. We are looking into the matter and a final hearing is about to happen. This kind of litigation will only derail the process. We want him to play for the country.”
Bangran Punia contested the 21st June order pronounced by NADA. He contended that in April 2024, following his semifinal match, he was contacted by two “alleged doping control officials/chaperones” assigned by the NADA to assist with the wrestling selection trials in Sonepat, Haryana, but neither of them could provide identification or a permit. He offered the officials his sample in exchange for an explanation of the purported usage of outdated testing kits in December 2023.
His counsel alleged, “This is a classic case of hounding someone. The World Championship is around the corner. He has to practice,” to which the court retorted, “How will they let you play if you don’t test.” Bajrang Punia’s lawyer claimed that the Senior World Wrestling Championships, which will take place in Albania from the 28th to the 31st of October, represent the grappler’s final opportunity to compete in a big tournament for the next two years. The petition maintained that he had no alternative but to retire from wrestling because the provisional suspension prevented him from taking part in the trials and the championship match.
The petition alleged, “The petitioner (Bajrang Punia) is suffering through no fault of his own as he is unable to participate and perform due to the arbitrary suspension imposed by the respondent (NADA). It is, in fact, the respondent’s actions that have hindered the performance of the petitioner and the consequences of which the petitioner is having to bear. The same is unjust, unfair and a direct violation of the petitioner’s fundamental rights and necessary restorative action and punitive action against the respondent is pertinent.” It further added, “The conduct of the respondent in terms of the official threatening the petitioner against not giving his sample in an expired testing kit and the subsequent non-transparency and suspicious cover-up and inaction on the part of the respondent is a clear abuse of authority.”
Bajrang Punia won the Bronze medal in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics after defeating Kazakhstan’s Daulet Niyazbekov. He recently joined the Congress party along with another wrestler Vinesh Phogat. He was officially served with a formal “notice of charge” and prohibited from competition by the National Anti-Doping Agency on 21st June, marking his second suspension. The action was taken three weeks after the previous suspension was reversed by an Anti-Disciplinary Doping (ADDP) panel since the wrestler had not received a “notice of charge” from NADA.
He was first suspended by NADA on 23rd April after he declined to provide a urine sample for a drug test at the Sonepat selection trials on 10th March. United Wrestling World (UWW), the worldwide regulating body of the sport, had also placed him on suspension.
