The Supreme Court on Friday allowed wrestler Vinesh Phogat to participate in the selection trials for the 2026 Asian Games scheduled for Saturday, Live Law reported.A bench of Justices PS Narasimha and Alok Aradhe refused to stay a Delhi High Court order dated May 22 that had granted her interim relief. The bench was hearing a petition by the Wrestling Federation of India challenging the High Court’s decision.Phogat had challenged the federation’s revised selection criteria, which prevented her from participating in the trials because she missed designated tournaments while on maternity leave following the birth of her child in July 2025. She also challenged a show-cause notice issued by the Wrestling Federation of India.In its May 22 order, the High Court held that the federation’s policy was exclusionary as it did not allow the federation to consider athletes like Phogat returning after maternity leave.The High Court had said at the time that a woman should not be at a disadvantage for taking maternity leave.On Friday, the Supreme Court declined to stay the May 22 order but expressed reservations about the reasoning adopted by the High Court in granting relief to the wrestler, Live Law reported.Narasimha noted that Phogat had taken a sabbatical in December 2024 and informed the federation that she would return in August 2025. After giving birth in July 2025, she later told the federation that she would be eligible to compete from January 1.The judge added that Phogat had missed a doping test in January. He noted that the International Testing Agency had not accepted her explanation that she was attending an Assembly session as an MLA in Haryana. Phogat is a Congress legislator from the Julana constituency.The Supreme Court acknowledged Phogat’s achievements in international wrestling but observed that global anti-doping norms must be followed.“What is concerning when the [International Testing Agency] test is missed, it has a logical consequence, because Indian sports is integrally connected to the world sports,” Live Law quoted the bench as saying. “If some kind of disqualification appears at the global level, it reflects on India.”Narasimha also said that he was surprised that the High Court described the Wrestling Federation of India’s policy as “exclusionary”, adding that such norms were applicable across the board.He expressed reservations about the High Court treating the case as one related to motherhood, saying that it was about compliance with International Testing Agency norms.During the hearing, Phogat’s counsel had argued that the case was linked to her motherhood and said that preventing her from competing would be a “national embarrassment”.The counsel also alleged that the Wrestling Federation of India acted with malice by changing the policy. “This was tailor-made to exclude her,” Live Law quoted him as saying.The Wrestling Federation of India denied the allegation, saying that it was only following international norms and that there was no targeted exclusion of Phogat.Despite its reservations about the High Court’s reasoning, the Supreme Court declined to interfere with the interim relief already granted to Phogat.“We don’t want to get into an argument as if her pregnancy is the cause of this kind of situation,” Narasimha was quoted as saying. “That approach is unacceptable. Today, there is a direction she must be permitted to participate.”Phogat was one of the wrestlers who had taken part in protests seeking the resignation of Bharatiya Janata Party leader and former Wrestling Federation of India chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh.Six women wrestlers have accused Singh of sexual assault. On May 3, Phogat said that she was one of them, India Today reported.The Delhi Police registered a first information report against him in April 2023, following the intervention of the Supreme Court. On June 15, 2024, the police filed a 1,000-page chargesheet against him. The case is now pending in court.Edited by Tanya Shrivastava.