Delhi High Court directs committee to reconsider Yogesh Kathuniya for Khel Ratna

Yogesh Kathuniya’s legal challenge brought to spotlight discrepancies in the selection process.

The Delhi High Court has ordered the Central Government’s selection to reconsider its decision to not award two-time Paralympic silver medallist Yogesh Kathuniya, the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award. The development comes after the discus thrower’s complaints regarding unfair treatment.

Justice Sachin Datta chaired the hearing and inquired about the extent of judicial authority over award selections. Advocate Nitin Yadav, representing Kathuniya, cited a precedent to argue that the court could indeed mandate such a reconsideration.

Subsequently, the court directed the Selection Committee to re-visit Kathuniya’s application with due regard to the award’s criteria, asking for urgent intervention given that the award ceremony is scheduled for January 17.

VIDEO: Here's double Paralympics silver medallist Yogesh Kathuniya had to say on not being nominated for the Khel Ratna award. "The first thing I heard from people was, ‘You don’t have a gold medal.’ I said, fine, I don’t have a gold medal. When there are three positions—gold,… pic.twitter.com/ECBsdlW4jd

— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) December 28, 2024

The discus thrower had earlier raised questions regarding the criteria for presenting sportspersons with the prestigious award. “I would like to tell you that when I saw the list of awards, my name was not on the list. If you see, a lot of people have got Khel Ratna a long time ago, whose points are not so much. I have been filling continuously for 2-3 years.

“I have three medals in the World Championship, one medal in the Asian Games, and a medal each in the Paris Paralympics and Tokyo Paralympics. So, according to this, my points are also very high,” he had said on 25 December, in a video posted on social media platform X.

Only four athletes have been presented with the Khel Ratna award this year- Manu Bhaker, Harmanpreet Singh, Praveen Kumar and D. Gukesh. It will be interesting to see if the committee decides to overturn its decision and award Kathuniya the highest sporting honour.

About the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award

The Khel Ratna Award, officially known as the Major Dhyanchand Khel Ratna Award (formerly called the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award) is India’s highest sporting honour, awarded annually by the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports. Earlier, Khel Ratna was given based on a player’s performance in a given year, but now Khel Ratna is given based on accolades received in the last four years.

A 12-member committee assesses the performance of athletes in various international events, including the Olympic Games, Paralympic Games, Asian Games, and Commonwealth Games. As of 2020, the award includes a medallion, a certificate and a cash prize of ₹25 lakh.

Also Read: Top five youngest athletes to win Major Dhyanchand Khel Ratna Award

About Yogesh Kathuniya

Yogesh Kathuniya, 27, is a discus thrower who participates in the F56 class (athletes who compete in field events from a seated position, including those with amputations and spinal cord injuries). At the age of 9, he developed Guillain–Barré syndrome. Within three years however, his mother helped him to regain muscle strength and walk again. In his college at Delhi, the lad from Bahadurgarh decided to join para-sports.

Kathuniya managed to clinch the silver medal at the Tokyo Paralympics 2020 and the Paris Paralympics 2024. He has also won two World Championship silver medals (2023 Paris, 2024 Kobe) and one bronze (2019 Dubai), apart from a silver at the Hangzhou Asian Para Games 2022. The discus thrower also set the world record in the F36 class at the 2018 World Para Athletics European Championships. He was presented with the Arjuna Award in 2021.

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