WFI Should Frame Guidelines To Balance Interest of Nation, Athlete: Delhi HC on Phogat's Plea

New Delhi: The Delhi High Court on Thursday observed that the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) should frame guidelines to strike a balance between the interest of the nation and an athlete, especially a woman who returns on the ground post maternity.

Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma lamented that women have to take a back seat after marriage and child-birth while men succeed in their respective careers.

The court said the WFI must have certain guidelines and timelines as their absence result in unfairness.

The court's observations came while hearing a plea by grappler Vinesh Phogat, who has returned from maternity leave, seeking permission to participate in the women's selection trials for the 2026 Senior World Championships.

The court said it will pass an order on the application.

During the hearing, Phogat's counsel said they went to attend the show cause notice meeting Wednesday at the Constitution Club but there was no one present from the WFI and then the federation says that she is not participating in the meeting.

"This is a case of an institution deliberately targeting me. Prima facie I am able to show malice and bias on their part. WFI has displayed absolute arbitrariness in the case. She was informed of the selection criteria only on September 7 and the trials are scheduled on September 14," he argued.

However, the counsel representing the WFI said Phogat has not been banned from participation and if she is eligible according to the policy, she can participate in the trials.

He said the medal winners of 2025, 2026 will become eligible and she is very much welcome to win medals and then climb back up from the states and the national championship because she has not won medals in many years.

"On maternity, there are other wrestlers also. Post maternity, they are also winning medals for India. They get their strength back. They perform well. They get back into 100 per cent shape and then they perform exactly as how they were prior to the pregnancy," the counsel submitted.

To this, the bench said, this policy is the problem and hinted of framing guidelines and timelines on the functioning of the federation.

"This is the problem. A woman, she will get married, she will give birth to a child and in that interim period, men will go and win medals and then they will qualify for something and woman will have to sit back at home and look after the children. There should be something that you have to do about this also, otherwise this is being very unfair.

"In this profession also, when one is practicing law, they go when they have children and when they come back, the clients do not come. This is something that we are trying to address because you have failed to. How unfair can this can be?.... Therefore, you have to make some guidelines which will balance the interest of the country also and person also," Justice Sharma said.

Phogat, in her application filed in a pending petition, also sought a stay on the operation of a September 7 circular issued by the WFI prescribing the eligibility criteria for the selection trials which are scheduled for September 14 at Indira Gandhi Stadium here.

The fresh application was filed in the main petition in which the wrestler has sought formulation of a fair and structured framework for women athletes returning to competitive sports after pregnancy and maternity leave.

In the application, she has sought a stay on the circular as it excludes her from participating in the selection trials for the championship scheduled to be held at Astana, Kazakhstan from October 24 to November 1.

The WFI circular provides for women's trial in six Olympic weight categories. Phogat contended that the latest selection framework creates a closed pathway by making eligibility dependent on participation and performance in specified qualifying competitions.

The plea said the circular places Phogat in a position where she is excluded not because she has been assessed and found wanting on sporting merit, but because was unable to participate in the particular competitions selected by WFI as gateways to the present selection trials.

It said the framework contains no mechanism to account for an athlete who was unable to participate in the prescribed competitions for maternity-related reasons.

On September 1, the high court sought response of WFI and the Centre on Phogat's plea seeking formulation of a fair and structured framework for women athletes returning to competitive sports after pregnancy and maternity leave.

In the petition, she has sought directions for formulation of a fair and structured framework for women athletes returning from maternity, transparent and objectively verifiable selection and nomination processes, and an alternative mechanism for athletes disadvantaged by maternity-related absence.

Phogat, who became a mother in July 2025, said upon resuming her wrestling career after childbirth, she was made to re-enter the competitive pathway without any accommodation for the period she was unable to compete due to maternity.

The wrestler has also filed another petition seeking quashing of two show cause notices issued to her by WFI and disciplinary proceedings initiated against her.

WFI's counsel had said they kept the hearing twice but "there has been no show" and a final opportunity has been given and the hearing is on September 2.

In the plea, Phogat said that the two notices issued to her on May 9 and June 17 are part of a continuing pattern of arbitrary and mala fide action by WFI, obstructing her return to competitive wrestling after maternity.