The Delhi High Court has turned down a plea by a 16-year-old international show-jumper who wanted to represent India at the Youth Olympic Games 2026 in Dakar, Senegal. The rider, Vaasvi Khaitan, had approached the court through her father, Vedant Khaitan, arguing that the Equestrian Federation of India (EFI) had changed the goalposts after the competition was already over, unfairly knocking her out of contention.
Khaitan claimed she had earned eight qualifying scores between December 2025 and May 2026 in 1.30m/1.35m competitions. Her case was that an eight-month qualifying window, running from 8 November 2025 to 25 July 2026, had been in place throughout the selection process. She alleged that the Selection Committee, while reviewing an earlier decision, suddenly introduced 8 May 2026 as a fresh starting point—cutting out seven of her eight valid scores and pushing her down the merit list.
Under the original selection published on 10 August 2026, rider Sresht Raju Mantena was picked for the Games while Khaitan was kept as reserve. After she objected, EFI reopened the matter, and a revised decision on 27 August 2026 kept Sresht at rank one, moved Khaitan down to rank three, and pushed rider Shubh Chowdhari up to rank two.
During the hearing, another twist emerged. Khaitan's counsel produced minutes dated 13 May 2026, signed by all three members of the then Selection Committee, showing she had actually been unanimously selected at that stage with a different rider, Neil Kendall, listed as reserve. The Indian Olympic Association confirmed these minutes were genuine.
Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma examined whether EFI had unfairly rewritten the rules after the competition was already over. The Court noted that the Selection Criteria was first put up on EFI's website only on 8 May 2026, and there was no document anywhere fixing 8 November 2025 as the start of any selection window that date simply marked an FEI event in Bengaluru where some riders got their eligibility certificates.
The Court observed:
"There would have been a case of retrospective alteration if the Selection Committee had, after the original selection, introduced a new criteria and applied it to performances which had already been assessed under a different notified criterion. However, the record shows that the Selection Criteria had been uploaded on 08.05.2026 on EFI's website, and the riders were thereafter called upon to submit their latest results by 25.07.2026."
On the May 13 minutes, the Court accepted they were real but said they couldn't be treated as final, since only two riders had been considered at that point while five others hadn't even entered the picture yet. The judgment noted:
"Irrespective of what was recorded in the minutes dated 13.05.2026, the position that emerged after 10.06.2026 was that all seven eligible riders were being considered for the final selection, on the basis of the criteria communicated to them and the results submitted up to 25.07.2026."
The Court also weighed practical realities India's entry deadline for the Games is 25 September 2026, leaving barely a week. Sending the matter back for a fresh exercise, the Court said, would disrupt a process seven riders had already gone through, including travel and competitions abroad.
While ruling against Khaitan, the Court did flag concerns about how the selection unfolded and suggested EFI fix clear timelines and more transparent criteria for future selections, so similar confusion doesn't repeat.
With these observations, the petition was disposed of, and Selection Decision-II was left undisturbed.
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