HC's strong stand in Manika Batra case told TTFI - do not harass the player without reason
The Delhi High Court asked the Table Tennis Federation of India (TTFI) to give a clean chit to table tennis player Manika Batra, who had filed a complaint against the national sports body.
Sunil Shukla 
The Delhi High Court asked the Table Tennis Federation of India (TTFI) to give a clean chit to table tennis player Manika Batra, who had filed a complaint against the national sports body. The High Court said that they do not want any player to be harassed unnecessarily.
Justice Rekha Palli, who directed the Sports Ministry to investigate against the sports body, observed that the player did not commit any mistake by demanding a private coach as per the report submitted in a sealed cover.
The court was hearing Manika's plea, alleging that TTFI was making selections in a non-transparent manner and targeting some players, including her.
Manika, who was dropped from the Indian contingent for the Asian Test Table Championship, had alleged that national coach Soumyadeep Rai had "pressured" her to "lose" an Olympic qualifier match against one of her trainees.
The court told TTFI's counsel, "We are not happy with the way the federation is functioning. You are trying to get an inquiry done against a person without any reason. Is your federation willing to take a stand? Is it (the federation) willing to withdraw the show-cause notice issued to it? I have seen the investigation report. The idea is to find a solution... he can play and concentrate on the matches.
The court said, "The conclusion (in the Centre's report) is that there was no mistake in asking for his personal coach. It is clearly stated in the report that it would not be proper to blame the petitioner. Giving time to the lawyer to take instructions from the federation, Justice Palli said, "At this time the player should not suffer." The country is not in a position to see players roaming around the court... I want you to give him a clean chit, saying there is no need for investigation. (Say that) there was no misbehavior on his part.'
