Kochi: The Kerala High Court on Tuesday referred a contempt of court petition filed by athlete P. U. Chithra against the top officials of Athletic Federation of India to a Division Bench having jurisdiction to consider contempt cases. The court had directed the AFI to file an affidavit in the contempt petition and asked to explain how Sudha Singh, whose name was not on the entry list, was included in the list of Indian team published by IAAF. It sought time to file an affidavit.
Chithra moved the court against secretary C.K. Valson, selection committee chairman G.S. Randhawa and president Adille J. Sumariwalla for not complying with the High Court order. The court had directed the AFI to ensure the participation of Chithra in the event. Chithra argued that even after the cut-off date, athletes had been included in the event. AFI has not taken any earnest efforts to comply with the court order, she argued. It had written a letter stating that there was a High Court order directing to include the petitioner in the event. However, the IAAF rejected the request stating that its guidelines do not permit the inclusion of the athlete after July 27.
