Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan hails HC verdict on athlete Chitra

Courtesy: Facebook

Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Friday hailed the Kerala High Court verdict directing the Union government to ensure participation of athlete PU Chitra in the world championships at London.

Welcoming the court verdict, Vijayan said in a Facebook post that justice which was denied to Chitra, had been delivered by the High Court.

The Indian Athletic Federation had shown 'extreme injustice' to Chitra by not selecting her for the championships, he said.

He hoped that the athlete, who hails from Mundoor in Palakkad district in Kerala,would put up her best performance.

The Kerala Government and poeple would give her full support, the Chief Minister said.

In her reaction, Chitra said she was happy with the High Court's decision and thanked all those who stood by her in her fight.

Her parents said they were happy for their daughter.

Her father, P U Unnikrishnan, a daily wage worker, said it has been four days since he had slept.

Justice P B Suresh Kumar, in an interim order, directed the Central government to make all arrangements to ensure that Chitra participates in the event.

He also observed that the selection process for the championship appears to be not transparent and qualified athletes were ignored.

Despite winning gold in the women's 1500 meters in the Asian championships early this month, Chitra and two other medal winners Sudha Singh (3000 m steeplechaser) and Ajoy Kumar Saroj (men's 1500m) were not selected for the world championships to be held from August 4-13.

Athletics Federation of India Selection Committee chairman Gurbachan Singh Randhawa had maintained that the performance of all the three in the Asian Championships in Bhubaneswar (and their season's best) were well below the World Championships qualifying standards.