Vinesh Phogat once again defeated the WFI as the Supreme Court dismissed the federation’s petition

Vinesh Phogat scored another point in her fight against the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) when the Supreme Court on Thursday, June 4, dismissed the governing body’s petition targeting the star wrestler, terming it indecent. The SC said the challenge to the Delhi High Court order allowing Vinesh Phogat to participate in the selection process has become futile due to subsequent developments.

Vinesh competed in the 53kg category and made it to the semi-finals before losing to Meenakshi Goyat. Afterwards, the Olympian vowed to make a stronger comeback and continue to fight. WFI’s counsel argued in the Supreme Court that Vinesh, while allowed to participate in the national proceedings, had created havoc at the event.

Counsel also argued that the HC judgment from paragraph 31 onwards must be set aside. The Delhi High Court strongly criticized the WFIdescribing his actions against Vinesh as “vindictive” and “retrograde”.

In its ruling on May 22, a division bench headed by Chief Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya noted that Phogat did not meet the federation’s “exclusionary” selection criteria only because she was on maternity leave, stressing that maternity cannot be used to eliminate female athletes.

The court also termed the show cause notice issued to Phogat as “deplorable”. The notice reportedly called her disqualification from the Paris Olympics for being overweight a “national disgrace,” with the court saying the language reflected clear mala fide intent.

The Supreme Court, however, decided to dismiss the petition saying that it did not want to repeat the findings of the Dehi HC again.

The bench also said that all matters remain open.

“In view of the subsequent developments, this SLP is worthless. This court will not consider it necessary to repeat the findings and observations of the high court. The questions remain open,” the SC verdict said.

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Published on:

June 4, 2026 11:49 AM IST