Delhi HC Upholds Selection of India’s Dressage Team for Asian Games
It held that the EFI had correctly applied its selection policy by ranking riders on the basis of their two best valid MER scores.
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New Delhi,June 30: The Delhi High Court has upheld the selection of India's Dressage team for the 2026 Asian Games, holding that the selection process adopted by the Equestrian Federation of India (EFI) was fair and in accordance with the prescribed criteria.
Dressage is an equestrian discipline in which a rider and horse perform a series of predetermined movements in an arena, demonstrating precision, balance, and coordination.
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The judgment was delivered by Justice Mini Pushkarna, who dismissed petitions filed by equestrian riders Sudipti Hajela and Anush Agarwalla. Both riders had challenged the selection list issued on June 16, under which they were placed on the reserve list instead of being selected for the main team.
Agarwalla argued that his score in the Prix St. Georges event held in Hagen, Germany, should have been considered instead of his score from Belgium. According to him, the inclusion of the Germany score would have placed him among the four selected riders. He also alleged bias in the selection process, claiming that a member of the selection committee had pending disputes with him.
Hajela challenged the selection methodology adopted by the EFI. She contended that the federation should have first evaluated Team Minimum Eligibility Requirements (MERs) before considering Individual MERs while preparing the rankings.
The High Court rejected both challenges. It held that the EFI had correctly applied its selection policy by ranking riders on the basis of their two best valid MER scores. The Court found no irregularity in the selection methodology.
On the allegation of bias, the Court observed that Agarwalla had participated in the selection process without raising any objection to the composition of the selection committee at the relevant stage. Therefore, his challenge on the ground of bias could not be accepted after the selection process had been completed.Accordingly, the Court upheld the selection of India's Dressage team for the 2026 Asian Games and dismissed both petitions.