Shooting Coach Jaspal Rana’s Dronacharya Award Snub Reaches Court

The petition claims there was a “lack of transparency” in the Awards Committee’s selection process.

Dronacharya Award 2019: The dust just refuses to settle down on National Sports Awards committee’s decision to overlook pistol coach Jaspal Rana for the Dronacharya Award this year.

(Photo Courtesy: Facebook/Jaspal Rana/Altered by The Quint)

The government’s decision to omit national junior shooting coach Jaspal Rana hasn’t gone down well with many, it seems.

The Delhi State Rifle Association approached the Delhi High Court on Friday, 23 August, over Rana not being nominated for the Dronacharya Award, The Indian Express reported.

The petition filed by the Association states that Rana was overlooked for the prestigious Dronacharya award despite meeting all the criteria.

Rana, a multiple medallist at top international events, is the coach who groomed teen shooting sensations such as Manu Bhaker, Saurabh Chaudhary and Anish Bhanwala who went to bag several medals at the world stage.

The association’s petition also slammed the National Awards Committee stating that there was a “lack of transparency” in their nomination process.

The National Awards Committee claimed that Rana had failed to meet a number of criteria required for the award. In an interview to The Quint, Rana refuted these claims.

The bench of the Delhi High Court asked the association to withdraw the petition on the grounds that Rana hadn’t filed it himself.

However, the association , represented by advocate Rahul Mehra, responded that Rana is currently in Rio De Janeiro for the World Cup and that they would get his assent and vakalatnama for the petition on or before 26 August, Monday.

Taking the response into consideration, the bench of the Delhi High Court has issued an interim order directing the sports ministry to submit their records of the selection process by 27 August.

The awards ceremony is scheduled for 29 August.

Apart from the Delhi State Rifle Association’s petition, the National Rifle Association of India (NRAI) president Raninder Singh, on Friday, also said that Jaspal Rana, “truly deserves” the Dronacharya Award.

This is the second time in a row that Rana has been snubbed for the Dronacharya Award.

Rana's exclusion from the list of nominees for the 2019 National Sports Award snowballed into a big controversy after the committee – that includes former Indian football captain Bhaichung Bhutia and athlete Anju Bobby George – gave different reasons for why the Asian Games gold medallist did not make the cut.

(With inputs from The Indian Express and PTI)