The Punjab high court (HC) has given relief to OCI (Overseas Citizen of India) players banned from playing for the country because they do not have Indian passports. The court said an OCI can represent India at international sport events.
The judgment came in response to a plea by Sohrab Gill, a national shooter who was banned in 2008 with others.
Punjab advocate general HS Mattewal quoted a government notification issued on April 11, 2005, that OCI cardholders should get the same chances as NRIs in economic, financial and educational sectors and an OCI can play for the country.
Gill, who is an OCI since 2007, has represented India in junior world events and won medals at the Asian Championship in Kuwait in 2007. “I am happy to represent my country again,” he said.
The government started throwing out OCI players from federations in 2008, which ended many promising careers.A perfect example was Karm Kumar (British passport), a squash player who represented India at the Asian juniors in 2006. In 2007, SRFI (Squash Racket Federation of India) barred him from competing in international events.
In 2008, Kumar filed a case against the federation. He did this after SRFI sent notices that players should have Indian passports if they want to play for their country. “We’ve got this [HC judgment] after two years. The sad part is that Karm and other players have lost their form,” Rahul, Karm’s father, said.
“If my son has an OCI card, but is not allowed to play for his country because he does not have an Indian passport, what does
the word ‘citizen’ in OCI mean?”
The sports ministry said it barred foreign players because they were taking advantage of superior training methods here and leaving India to play for other countries. Kumar countered: “More than 150 Indian squash players have left to play for other countries. But what about those who wanted to play for India but were not allowed?”
