The two-time Olympic medallist Sushil Kumar was arrested in connection with the Chhatrasal Stadium brawl case that led to the death of another wrestler Sagar Rana. The High Court was hearing a plea to restrain the media.
New Delhi– The Delhi High Court, refused to entertain a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) against the media trial in Sushil Kumar’s case on May 28, 2021. Justices DN Patel and Jyoti Singh were hearing the petition submitted by Kamla Devi, Sushil Kumar’s mother and a law student, Srikant Prasad.
The Court said, “Let the man come to court. You cannot file a PIL in such an issue.” The Justices remarked that liberty is given to persons who are actually aggrieved to approach the appropriate forum.
The petitioner argued there is an intention to sabotage his career and the media is misusing the right to freedom and expression, to create false and frivolous headings. He asked the Court to issue directions to the Centre and the Press Council of India.
Sushil Kumar has been arrested for the alleged murder of Sagar Rana after a brawl at the Chhatrasal Stadium in Delhi on May 5. A First Information Report (FIR) was registered on the same day, against him on the charges of murder, abduction and criminal conspiracy. On May 22, Delhi Court had issued a non-bailable warrant against Sushil Kumar and six others connected in the case.
The Delhi police arrested him on the morning of May 23 after chasing him for 19 days from Delhi to Gaya to Chandigarh and then back to Delhi. He was finally arrested in Delhi’s Mundka.
M N Vishwanath, a sports psychologist and a mental health consultant, said, ”In this profession numerous such cases have come up. Incidents like doping, match-fixing have come up several times.” He explained that when an athlete gets involved in these cases, there’s hardly any alternate career that the person can pursue anymore. He added, “When they reach stardom and turn into a celebrity, they need to keep in check what they project to the world because everybody is watching them.”
Mr. Vishawanath believes, once Sushil comes out, his sportsmanship will be questioned, and it will be difficult to regain his reputation after it has been tarnished.
With inputs from Pooja Das and Rittik Biswas
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