Vinesh Phogat (file photo)

New Delhi: The Delhi High Court The famous wrestler has been allowed Vinesh Phogat to participate in the upcoming Asian Games selection trials, noting that allowing him to participate in the trials was necessary “in the interest of sport and justice”. A bench of Chief Justice DK Upadhyay and Justice Tejas Karia also directed the WFI to video-record the trials to be held on May 30 and 31. The court further ordered that independent observers from the Sports Authority of India (SAI) and the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) be present during the process. “The Appellant shall be permitted to participate in the selection trials for the Asian Games, 2026, which are scheduled for 30.05.2026 and 31.05.2026,” the court said in its order uploaded on Saturday, a day after it was passed. “The policy and circular are clearly exclusionary in nature as they do not give any discretion to the respondent No. 1 (WFI) to consider eminent players like the appellant in view of the sabbatical taken on account of her maternity leave,” the bench said. The court also observed that the grounds cited in WFI’s show cause notice to Phogat appear to be “pre-determined” and amount to reopening of settled issues. The order came on Phogat’s appeal against the May 18 decision of a single-judge bench which had refused to grant him interim relief with regard to his participation in the trials. Phogat, an internationally acclaimed wrestler, was disqualified from the women’s 50kg final at the 2024 Summer Olympics in August 2024 after she was found 100 grams overweight during the morning weigh-in.(With PTI inputs)