New Delhi: The Athletics Federation of India (AFI) has taken the stance that it won't be possible to include P. U. Chitra in the Indian squad for the World Championships despite the Kerala High Court's order as the entry for the global event has been closed, say reports.
The AFI has also said that it has not been heard so far by the Kerala HC in the case.
Justice P. B. Suresh Kumar of the Kerala High Court, in an interim order, on Friday directed the central government to make all arrangements to see that Chitra participates in the event to be held in London from August 4 to 13.
Adille Sumariwalla, president, AFI, said that the lawyers representing the federation have not presented their argument so far.
"The honorable Kerala High Court has passed an order. But we have not filed any reply so far, our lawyers are yet to present their arguments in the case. We got the petition (filed by Chitra) at 4 pm last evening and some pages were not very clear," Sumariwalla told PTI.
"Our lawyers expect to present argument in the case on Monday and they (the lawyers) will deal with the matter accordingly," he added.
Chitra, who had recently won a gold in women's 1500m event in the Asian Athletics Championships in Bhubaneswar, filed the writ petition after she was excluded from the Indian squad by the federation.
In her plea, she said her gold medal performance at the Asian Athletics Championships made her an automatic pick for the World Championships.
Chitra was one of the three Asian Championships gold winners to have been left out of the 24-member India team for the World Championships.
Sudha Singh (women's 3000m steeplechase) and Ajoy Kumar Saroj (men's 1500m) were the other two.
The Asian Championships winners get an automatic berth for the World Championships, but the global governing body IAAF's rules were clear that the national federation has within its powers not to send a continental event winner.
Sumariwalla, in a detailed letter to the government, had earlier said that the performances of these three athletes were not good enough for the top global event. He pointed out that their performances during the Asian Championships in Bhubaneswar were even worse than the junior national record.
"The AFI has the final authority to send an athlete or not even if they qualify. The IAAF rules clearly say that," he had said.
(With PTI inputs)
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