PANAJI
The Supreme Court on Monday issued a notice to the Sports Authority of Goa (SAG) in response to a plea by a woman candidate contesting for the post of weightlifting coach, who alleged bias in the selection process by her former coach, against whom she had previously filed a harassment complaint.
A bench of Justices Pankaj Mithal and KV Viswanathan also stayed the operation of the impugned order of the High Court of Bombay in Goa, which allowed the selection process to continue as per original schedule, without setting aside Goa government's order for re-conducting the tests in which discrimination was alleged.
Advocate Salvador Santosh Rebello appeared for the petitioner and submitted that in one of the selection tests, petitioner's former coach, who harassed her and against whom she made complaints, was an examiner.
As such, a representation was made to the Goa government, which found in favour of the petitioner and decided to re-conduct the test. The High Court however nullified the government's decision and ordered that the authorities proceed with the written test (the final test).
SAG had issued the advertisement for the post in February, 2024. The recruitment process involved three stages: physical fitness test, skill test/practical exam, and written test.
On discovering that one of the examiners in the test was not certified in Weightlifting but had experience in Tug of War sports and was a bodybuilding coach, the petitioner made a representation to the Government of Goa. As per claims, the said examiner was not only unqualified, but also the petitioner's ex-coach, who subjected her to mental harassment during training, leading to suspension of her practice for a year.
“Despite performing admirably in the Skill Test, the Petitioner was arbitrarily awarded only 17.5% marks, deliberately below the qualifying threshold. This blatant discrimination clearly stemmed from personal bias rather than objective assessment of performance,” the petitioner said.
Following the petitioner's complaint, the Goa government had put the recruitment process on hold and decided to re-conduct the physical fitness and skill tests under independent examiners to rule out bias and discrimination.
