AFI seeks to set aside Kerala High Court order on PU Chitra

Kochi: The Athletic Federation of India on Monday approached the Kerala High Court seeking to set aside the order of a single judge directing to ensure the participation of P. U. Chithra in the IAAF world championships to be held in London. A division bench declined permission and observed that there was no urgency in the matter.  The AFI raised multiple grounds,  including jurisdiction. The championship which Chithra claims to have given her right of participation in the  World Championships was held in Bhubaneswar, Odisha,  and the selection of the team was carried out by the selection committee in New Delhi. No cause of action arose in the state of Kerala for filing the writ petition, the AFI  argued.

The  court cannot step into the shoes of experts and give its own interpretation for selection of teams in sports like athletics which involve intricate technicalities and only the experts/ coaches/ administrators can judge the performance of athletes in different events.  One cannot compare an athlete’s performance in 1500m race against the performance of other athletes in heptathlon or 10000 m race which are entirely different events and can be compared by coaches and experts only, the petitioner said. The order of the single judge was impossible to be implemented  as the international body decides the last dates for sending entries and not the AFI, the petition stated.

The AFI claimed that G. Laxmanan runs 5000m and 10000m in men’s category. He won two gold medals in these two events at Asian Championships in a span of 4 days. Although he did not achieve qualification standard for the world championship, he was still selected since his performance at Guntur in 5000m race was outstanding. National team coaches strongly felt he had far more potential and can perform even better when he was made to run alongside the best runners in the world. Also, the athletes Laxmanan and Swapna Barman were peaking at the right time. In the Guntur meet,  Chithra finished second in the 5000m race. It was improbable for the selection committee to send her entry since she did not even remain  number one in the country.