Times of India: HC sets aside ban on hockey player Gurbaj Singh
CHANDIGARH: Giving relief to suspended Indian hockey player Gurbaj Singh, the Punjab and Haryana high court on Monday set aside the nine-month ban imposed on him by Hockey India.
A deputy superintendent of police (DSP) in Punjab, 27-year-old Gurbaj was suspended for nine months in August on charges of creating factions within the team and misbehaving with the coaches.
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Gurbaj had moved the high court seeking cancellation of the ban on the grounds that it would deprive him of a chance to represent India in the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics.
The court called the punishment excessive.
Disposing of a petition filed, Justice R K Jain of the HC said, “The orders passed by the authorities on August 10, 2015 and September 18, 2015, imposing ban of nine months on Gurbaj, are patently illegal, arbitrary and unreasonable and hence, both the impugned orders are hereby set aside.”
The court sent the matter to Hockey India, directing them to convene a meeting within one week and take a fresh decision for imposition of punishment penalty on Gurbaj if needed. They have been directed to inform Gurbaj about the outcome of the meeting within two days.
What court said…
“Hockey India cannot act arbitrarily in imposing punishment and travel beyond the code of conduct-guideline sanctions, as these are provided to keep a check on the part of the committee while imposing punishment as it is a salutary principal of criminal jurisprudence that the punishment imposed should commensurate with the offence committed,” said the HC, while finding his punishment excessive.