The Supreme Court will hear on July 9 a petition filed by equestrians Anush Agarwalla and Sudipti Hajela challenging their non-selection for India’s final Dressage team for the 2026 Asian Games after the Delhi High Court declined to interfere with the selection process adopted by the ad hoc committee of the Equestrian Federation of India (EFI).
The matter was mentioned before a partial working day Bench of Justice Ahsanuddin Amanullah and Justice Sheel Nagu, which agreed to grant an urgent hearing and directed that it be listed on July 9.
The dispute arises from the selection of India’s Dressage team for the 2026 Asian Games, scheduled to be held in Japan from September 19 to October 4. Agarwalla and Hajela, both members of India’s gold medal-winning Dressage team at the 2022 Asian Games, were named as reserve riders in the selection list issued by the EFI’s ad hoc committee on June 16, 2026.
Agarwalla was named first reserve, while Hajela was placed as second reserve. Aggrieved by their non-selection for the final squad, they challenged the selection process before the Delhi High Court.
A single-judge Bench of the High Court dismissed their writ petitions, holding that the selection process was conducted fairly and in accordance with the applicable selection criteria. It further rejected their objections relating to the calculation of Minimum Eligibility Requirements (MERs), interpretation of the selection policy, the absence of additional selection trials and allegations of bias against the selection committee, holding that the selection process did not suffer from arbitrariness, perversity or procedural impropriety warranting judicial interference.
The riders subsequently filed intra-court appeals before the Division Bench of Chief Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya and Justice Tejas Karia, which dismissed their appeals on July 6. While upholding the single-judge Bench verdict, the High Court recorded that the EFI had failed to fully comply with certain provisions of its own selection criteria.
It held that although there was no infirmity in the preparation of the list of probable riders under Clause 13, the federation had not complied with the requirements contained in Clauses 15(a) and 15(b). The Division Bench further noted that the provisional merit list of probable riders, as required under Clause 8(f), had not been published.
Despite identifying these procedural irregularities, the High Court declined to order a fresh selection exercise, noting that the July 15, 2026 deadline for submission of the final entries left insufficient time to conduct another selection competition. It further observed that the riders and horses were stationed across different countries and transporting horses to a common venue while complying with international transportation and quarantine requirements was not feasible within the available timeframe.
The High Court held that reopening the selection process at that stage could adversely affect India’s participation and medal prospects at the Games. The Division Bench exercised judicial restraint and refused to disturb the selected team while directing the EFI to strictly adhere to its selection criteria in future selection exercises.
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