HC refuses interim relief to champion shooter

The Delhi High Court today refused to grant any interim relief to national junior shooting champion Kabir Singh Dhillon who has moved a plea seeking directions to the Centre to allow him to participate in an upcoming tournament in Germany at his expenditure.
Justice Manmohan refused 16-year-old Dhillon's plea to be allowed to participate in the 1st ISSF Junior Cup in Rifle - Pistol - Shotgun at Suhl in Germany from May 26 to June 1, 2014, saying as per the government's policy only those persons having Indian citizenship are permitted to take part in overseas tournaments.
Refusing to grant any interim relief, Justice Manmohan issued a notice to and sought a response from the Centre on the petition of Dhillon.

He also refused to refer the matter to a larger bench as sought by Dhillon's lawyer, Neelam Rathore, during the arguments.
Dhillon, born in Toronto, Canada, is an Overseas Citizen of India and though he was selected in the national team which is to leave for the tournament in Suhl, the government held him back as he is not an Indian citizen.
The central government's Standing Counsel Neeraj Chaudhari, appearing for the Ministry for Youth Affairs and Sports, said that its policy does not allow Dhillon to play and added that the policy has been upheld by the high court in another matter.

He also said that as per the policy, Dhillon cannot participate in overseas tournaments at the expense of the government.

Rathore, however, contended the policy being relied upon by the government is actually office memorandums and that these have been challenged in the petition.
She submitted that Dhillon is willing to travel abroad and participate in the tournament at his own expense.
Dhillon is currently the national junior shooting champion in double trap and has won all the four tournaments held in 2013.