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No appeal lies against Sarita Devi's ban: Boxing India to High Court

Sarita had refused to accept the Asian Games medal to protest against her semifinal bout loss

New Delhi: Boxing India on Monday told the Delhi High Court that it cannot appeal against the International Boxing Association's (AIBA) decision to suspend boxer Laisram Sarita Devi for refusing to accept the bronze medal at the Asian Games in South Korea.

"No appeal lies against the disciplinary authority's (AIBA) decision to suspend India's woman boxer Laisram Sarita Devi," it told a bench of Chief Justice G Rohini and Justice Rajiv Sahai Endlaw.

Boxing India's submission came in response to its reply being sought by the court on December 24, last year while hearing a plea challenging AIBA's Disciplinary Commission's decision.

The sports body told the court that "even Sarita Devi is not aggrieved with AIBA's decision and has also not sought their interference".

Taking on record the submission of the sports body, which further said that Sarita Devi's suspension was reduced from two to one year, the court asked the petitioner, "What more remains in his petition? It is really a peculiar case where respondent 5 (Sarita Devi) and respondent 3 (Boxing India) are not aggrieved with the decision," the court said.

Senior advocate Rajiv Dutta, the petitioner, then sought directions to the Sports Ministry and Boxing India to produce the relevant rules and regulations which do not provide for an appeal against AIBA's decision.

Taking note of his plea, the court asked the authorities concerned to place all relevant materials before it for its consideration and fixed the matter for further hearing on January 14.

Sarita, who had refused to accept the medal to protest against her controversial semifinal bout loss, has been banned retrospectively from October 1, 2014 to October 1, 2015 and fined 1000 swiss francs.

( Source : PTI )
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