Supreme Court stays HC order on Goa weightlifting coach recruitment
The Supreme Court on Monday stayed an order of the high court that directed govt to proceed with the recruitment of a weightlifting coach for the Sports Authority of Goa (SAG).
Tired of too many ads? go ad free now
Woman weightlifter Vaishnavi Ugadekar, a two-time gold and silver medallist for the state in weightlifting who also participated in the National Games, challenged the order of the high court in the Supreme Court. The apex court on Monday issued notices to govt and stayed the order of the high court in the petition filed by Ugadekar, represented by advocate on record Salvador Santosh Rebello, with advocates Pradosh Dangui and Kritika.
Ugadekar alleged bias by the examiner against whom she had complained in the past for harassment. Following her complaint, Goa govt last month decided to conduct the skill test process again for weightlifting with independent examiners/selectors. Mahesh Kavlekar, the other applicant who was found eligible, then went to the high court, which directed govt to proceed with the selection process as per schedule.
The high court stated that it found govt's stand 'little surprising' and observed that merely because a complaint was filed by an unsuccessful candidate, only the written examination for the stream of weightlifting was cancelled, while the examinations for the post of coach in other streams like swimming and basketball were to be conducted as per schedule on June 26.
'It appears that the authorities are not conscious of the fact that once the candidate has appeared and participated in the process, he cannot thereafter call into action the whole process, and definitely not at the intermediate stage when the whole process is not yet complete,' stated the division bench comprising Justices Bharati Dangre and Nivedita Mehta. The bench said that upon clearing the preliminary test in the form of a skill test and physical test, it is imperative for the candidate to appear for the written examination, and upon that, the entire selection shall be said to be completed.
Tired of too many ads? go ad free now
The high court held that state authorities attempted to interject the whole process despite the fact that Kavlekar proved to be successful in the two preliminary rounds and qualified himself for the written test.
It added that merely because a complaint was filed, the test cannot be postponed, and he cannot be made to wait till a fresh advertisement is issued in respect of other streams when he will be subjected to the physical test and skill test. The high court added that this would cause immense injustice to the petitioner, who has experience working at SAG for more than a decade and definitely deserves a fair chance to participate in the process of selection.
Ugadekar then went to the Supreme Court.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Hindustan Times
28 minutes ago
- Hindustan Times
Espionage case: YouTuber Jyoti Malhotra's custody extended by another 14 days
A local court on Monday extended the judicial custody of social media influencer Jyoti Malhotra, arrested in an espionage case on May 16, by another 14 days. The next hearing in the matter is scheduled for July 21. Jyoti Malhotra The 33-year-old was produced before the court via video conferencing. Earlier, her bail plea was rejected on June 12 after police raised objections, arguing that her release could hinder the ongoing investigation. This is the fourth extension of her judicial custody. Previously, the court had extended her remand on June 9 and June 23, each time by 14 days. She was first sent to judicial custody on May 26. Her lawyer, Kumar Mukesh, has contested the charges listed in the first information report (FIR). He argued that while the alleged incident took place in 2023—when the Indian Penal Code (IPC) was in force—the Hisar police booked her under Section 152 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), which replaced Section 124-A (sedition) of the IPC. Mukesh pointed out that Section 124-A had been kept in abeyance by the Supreme Court and therefore could not be used for prosecution. He further claimed that the FIR was based on her statements during questioning on May 15, which he says violates the legal principle that no individual can be compelled to be a witness against themselves.
Time of India
an hour ago
- Time of India
Wreaked havoc across the villages and towns of Bihar: Congress' KC Venugopal as opposition moves Supreme Court against ECI's SIR
The Indian National Congress and other opposition parties have approached the Supreme Court against the Election Commission of India's decision to conduct a Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls in Bihar. They allege that this move is unconstitutional and could disenfranchise voters. The Supreme Court has agreed to hear the case on July 10. Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads The Indian National Congress (INC), along with other opposition parties , have moved to the Supreme Court of India against the Election Commission of India 's (ECI) decision to conduct Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls in general secretary KC Venugopal shared a post on his official 'X' handle and informed about the development, stating that ECI's decision has "wreaked havoc across the villages and towns of Bihar" and has spread "anxiety" across voters on whether their "right to vote" would be "stolen"."As a signatory on behalf of the Indian National Congress, along with various opposition parties, we have approached the Hon'ble Supreme Court against the blatantly unconstitutional SIR exercise in Bihar. It has wreaked havoc across the villages and towns of Bihar - giving crores of voters' anxiety about whether their right to vote will be stolen", KC Venugopal's 'X' post Congress leader alleged that ECI is conducting " mass-scale rigging and mischief" on the orders of the Union Government led by the BJP and hoped that the Supreme Court will deliver justice to the opposition."This is mass-scale rigging and mischief being carried out by the ECI, under instructions from the ruling regime. We have faith that the Hon'ble Supreme Court will deliver justice", the 'X' post Supreme Court on Monday agreed to hear on July 10 a batch of pleas challenging the Election Commission of India's (ECI) move to conduct a Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in poll-bound Bihar.A bench of Justices Sudhanshu Dhulia and Joymalya Bagchi agreed to list the matter on Thursday and allowed the parties to give advance notice of the petitions to the Election Commission of India and serve copies of the advocates Kapil Sibal, Abhishek Manu Singhvi, Gopal Sankaranarayanan and Shadan Farasat jointly mentioned the matter before the apex advocates told the bench that voters who fail to submit the forms with the specified documents will face the harsh consequence of being deleted from the electoral roll, even if they have voted in elections for the last twenty years.
The Print
an hour ago
- The Print
Liberals don't want Muslim women to demand rights in Hindutva era
I am not suggesting that Indian women as a whole have attained substantive equality as guaranteed by the Constitution. This appears distant, even eight decades after Independence. But Muslim women additionally bear the brunt of belonging to a religious minority. They have to deal with patriarchal orthodoxy within the community and divisive communal onslaught outside. Unlike Hindu and Christian women, they face legal discrimination in family matters without reformed codified Muslim personal laws. This is an injustice suffered by women alone – even as the whole community lives in poverty, economic and educational backwardness, and political apathy. Rising religious polarisation and hate politics have made matters worse in recent years. Her work also highlights that Muslim women seeking justice are neither a figment of imagination nor a part of some political conspiracy. Rather, they remind us of gaps such as unjust personal laws in our democratic system. Forever, Muslim women seeking justice within family and community have been demonised by conservatives as 'bad women'. Speaking to the media, Banu recalled how she was threatened and attacked for amplifying the voices of women in a conservative society. Banu Mushtaq's Heart Lamp won the 2025 International Booker Prize for poignantly telling stories based on the lived realities of Muslim women in a male-dominated society. The jury lauded her work for its 'astonishing portraits of survival and resilience'. Originally written in Kannada and translated into English by Deepa Bhasthi, the stories are universal. The women portrayed can be found across India. Mushtaq's work brings alive the pathos and ingenuity with which ordinary women negotiate the complexities imposed by patriarchy. Muslim women have come under the spotlight since 2014. The women-led movement against instant triple talaq had been going on since 2012, gaining momentum when Shayara Bano approached the Supreme Court in 2016. The Union government then filed an affidavit supporting the abolition of instant triple talaq. Many women survivors of triple talaq, as well as my organisation, joined the petition. We argued that the 'talaq talaq talaq' method of divorce was both un-Quranic and unconstitutional. A major campaign educating the public about the rights of women in Islam was undertaken. Thousands of women joined the movement. The conservative clergy defended the practice and fought for the preservation of the status quo. To them, Shariat is divine and cannot be touched by anyone. Most Opposition political parties kept silent, except some parliamentarians who spoke out in their individual capacity. In 2017, the Constitutional Bench of the Supreme Court unanimously ruled that the practice of triple talaq was invalid. In 2019, the Centre brought a law punishing Muslim husbands pronouncing triple talaq with a jail term. The Narendra Modi government has been accused of using Muslim women as tropes to further its politics. On one hand, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders talk about the need for a Uniform Civil Code to help Muslim women. On the other, girls and women in hijab cannot be allowed inside schools and colleges in Karnataka. Also read: Indian Muslims must face the truth—Muslim countries don't care about them Muslim women & majoritarian politics Muslim women cannot be immune to majoritarian policies and rising hate crimes. While reform in family law is overdue, women need to be supported in areas such as education, jobs, health and housing. They need safety, security and a life with dignity and freedoms. Women and children are the worst affected when homes are razed during riots or when bulldozers are deployed. It is ironic that no government could protect the rights of Muslim women since Independence, despite constitutional obligations. Only men with overtly religious identities were perceived as leaders. The Shah Bano episode remains a shameful chapter in our history. It seems Indian Muslim women are obligated to live within predefined boundaries demarcated by conservative clergy – which are occasionally readjusted by the dominant politics of the day. In 1986, the Congress government quashed the maintenance given to Shah Bano by the court in 1985 to ostensibly uphold secularism. They surrendered to the patriarchal forces for fear of losing votes. Between 1986 and now, the opportunity for reforming personal laws has not arisen. This speaks volumes about the stranglehold of patriarchy over our polity. Meanwhile, women continue to suffer from unilateral divorces, and archaic practices such as halala, muta marriages, polygamy, denial of guardianship of children, and denial of a fair share in property. Our petition in the Supreme Court listed verses from the Quran, highlighting how Allah created man and woman as equals. In reality, misogynistic interpretations and misinterpretations abound. The unequal status of Muslim women is one of the key enigmas for our secular democracy. By contrast, the Muslim woman herself shows exemplary behaviour. She knows her rights and duties as a Muslim and as a citizen in a democracy. She demands to be an equal Muslim and an equal citizen at once. I have routinely heard women survivors of the 2002 Gujarat riots saying that they want justice and not charity. Women fighting against triple talaq equipped themselves with Quranic teachings as well as knowledge of constitutional safeguards. They saw no contradiction in demanding justice from both sources. Women fighting against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) invoked constitutional values of equality, secularism, and non-discrimination as they sat on dharnas with the tricolour in their hands. However, it suited the conservatives to support this women-led agitation, unlike the one against triple talaq. Women can be supported as long as they protest against state institutions and do not challenge the patriarchal status quo within the home and family. Some liberals consider Muslim women's demand for equal rights as inappropriate in times of Hindutva politics. But for women seeking justice within their lifetime, there is nothing called the correct time. Shayara Bano, Aafreen Rehman, Ishrat Jahan, Atiya Sabri, and Gulshan Parveen – all petitioners against triple talaq are living feminine beings. As are the women in Heart Lamp. Zakia Soman is a women's rights activist, columnist, and the co-founder of Bharatiya Muslim Mahila Andolan. Her X handle is @zakiasomanbmma. Views are personal. (Edited by Zoya Bhatti)
