MANINI KAUSHIK Vs. NATIONAL RIFLE ASSOCIATION OF INDIA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The Petitioner has approached this Court for a direction to the National Rifle Association of India (NRAI)/Respondent No.1 herein to permit the Petitioner to participate in the Paris Olympic Selection Trials to be conducted in New Delhi from 18/4/2024 to 27/4/2024 and in Bhopal from 10/5/2024 to 19/5/2024 to select the Pistol and Rifle contingent for the 2024 Paris Olympic Games, in 50 meter Rifle 3 Position Women Category.

(2.) Shorn of unnecessary details, the facts, in brief, are that the Petitioner has participated in several domestic and international competitions in the 50 meter Rifle 3P women Category. It is stated that the Petitioner was a part of the team which won Silver Medal in the Asian Games 2022 held in Hangzhou, China. The Petitioner is aggrieved by non-inclusion of her name by the NRAI for the Paris Olympic Selection Trials. The Criteria for the Selection of Olympic Shooting Teams to represent India in Rifle and Pistol Disciplines of Olympic Shooting Sport at the Olympics Games Paris, France, 2024 was brought by the NRAI on 10/10/2022 (hereinafter referred to as 'the 2022 criteria'). The said criteria were to be in force with the commencement of the International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) World Championship, Egypt 2022 in October, 2022 and the last tournaments which could be taken into consideration for the purpose of selection of a player was the 2024 ISSF Final Qualification Championship Rifle which was held in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil, which was the final Olympic qualification championship. The eligibility criterion as laid down in the 2022 criteria reads as under:

(3.) A perusal of the abovementioned criterion indicates that to be eligible to participate in the Olympic Selection Trials, a shooter will need to meet the eligibility criteria as laid down in the Qualification System - Games Of The XXXIII Olympiad Paris 2024 under which,