Karnataka HC quashes doping ban on ‘pork-eating' hoopster Rai
The ADDP had banned Rai (32), the 6.5-foot-tall hoopster from Mangalore, on October 11, 2022, for testing positive for 19-NA (a metabolite of Nandrolone). Rai's appeal was rejected by the Anti-Doping Appeal Panel on April 16, 2024.
Rai had challenged the ban saying the presence of 19-NA in his sample was not a result of willful ingestion of a performance-enhancing substance, but rather an inadvertent consequence of consuming pork, a staple in the cuisine of his native, coastal Karnataka.
Justice M Nagaprasanna's order said the penalty imposed by the anti-doping agency was in ignorance of Rai's assertion.
'The court finds the impugned orders vitiated by non-consideration of vital material, absence of reasoned adjudication and a palpable breach of the principle of fairness,' the court observed.
On February 5, 2022, while participating in a preparatory camp in Bengaluru, intended for India's elite basketball contingent, the petitioner's urine sample was collected by the National Anti-Doping Agency and the same was opened and resealed in Delhi. The charges from the petitioner for conducting the Sample-B test were also collected by the Agency. Then the sample was sent to a laboratory in Rome.
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India Today
4 hours ago
- India Today
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The criminal justice system comprises of the police, prosecution, and judiciary. While courts often question the competence of investigators and prosecutors, they too must be held accountable, especially in high-stakes terror trials and sensitive criminal investigative agencies like the ATS and state intelligence wings, though rooted in colonial-era policing, have tried to keep pace with changing technology like electronic surveillance, cyber forensics, and multilingual intelligence, the judiciary must now catch up to ensure these technological advances result in effective convictions and timely like the UAPA, MCOCA, and CrPC are evolving to address encrypted data, foreign handlers, and proxy warfare. Yet, judicial delays, inconsistent rulings, and external influences continue to hinder must include specialized training not only for investigators but also for judges and prosecutors in national security law to help balance civil liberties with national interest. 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