Kerala High Court seeks central stand on P U Chithra plea

Kochi: The Kerala High Court has sought the central government’s stand on a plea filed by P U Chithra, long distance runner, against excluding her from the Indian team for the IAAF World Championships in London from August 4 to August 13. The 22-year-old Palakkad native submitted that the decision of the Athletic Federation of India was illegal. Considering the plea, the court had earlier issued a notice to the Athletic Federation Of India. The petition stated that an athlete who secured first place in any area of championship automatically qualifies to represent India at the World Championship, irrespective of whether her performance was upto the entry standards in the event.

The selection committee of the AFI met on July 23 and announced the list. However, the name of the petitioner was omitted from the list. The AFI cited the reason was that the performance of the petitioner was not of the required standards. She argued that during the Asian Athletic Championship at Bhubaneswar earlier this month, there was rain on the day of her event and defying all expectations, she created history by winning the gold medal for India.