The Tribune: HC stays Hockey India’s ban on Gurbaj

Tribune News Service

Acting on hockey player Gurbaj Singh’s petition against the Union of India and other respondents, Justice Rakesh Kumar Jain of the Punjab and Haryana High Court has set aside orders banning him from playing the game for nine months on the allegations of misconduct.

As the petition through counsel Puran Singh Hundal came up for the final hearing, Justice Jain minced no words to say that the impugned orders were “patently illegal, arbitrary and unreasonable”.

At the same time, Justice Jain remanded the matter back to “Hockey India/Hockey India Athletes Grievances Redressal Committee”.

Directions were also issued for convening a meeting within a week from receiving the order’s copy to take a decision on the imposition of the punishment or penalty “if need be”.

Justice Jain also made it clear that the punishment or penalty, if at all required, should be commensurate with the allegations and charges levelled against the petitioner.

The decision taken by the committee shall be “intimated to the petitioner within two days thereafter”.
Gurbaj was blamed for not being serious about training, was allegedly observed distracting other players and showing disrespect to the members of the coaching staff. He was also blamed for showing total lack of emotion and empathy as he complained about the quality of food, though the chief cook had returned after his wife’s funeral. He was also accused of showing disregard to the coach.

Justice Jain asserted: “These incidents, even if taken to be true, though refuted by the petitioner, cannot be brought within the ambit of serious misconduct in order to attract the punishment of a ban of nine months, especially when the respondents have failed to show from the Rules and Regulations the provisions of the punishment of a ban except for certain orders passed in various meetings of the Hockey India Disciplinary Committee.

“It is found that bans were imposed in the past but in the circumstances where the players either had assaulted, had an altercation with the umpire and left the field and did not return, were found over-aged, used abusive language or showed the utmost disrespect to the officials during a match. Are these the allegations against the petitioner? The answer is ‘no’.”

Justice Jain added that the respondents could not act arbitrarily in imposing the punishment and travel beyond the “code of conduct-guideline sanctions” as these were provided to keep a check on the arbitrariness on the committee’s part while imposing a punishment. “It is a salutary principal of criminal jurisprudence that the punishment imposed should commensurate with the offence committed,” Justice Jain added.

HI president Batra welcomes decision

While welcoming the decision, Hockey India president Narinder Batra said that the federation was not against any player and would adhere to the decision announced by the Hockey India Athletes Grievances Redressal Committee. “We only wanted to send a strong message that no indiscipline by any player will be tolerated and I think we were successful in that,” said Batra.