Preventing Sikh woman from appearing in exam for wearing kara unsustainable: Delhi HC
New Delhi, Jul 12: The Delhi High Court has held as unsustainable a Sikh woman candidate being prevented from appearing in a competitive examination till she removed her metallic kara (bangle) despite reaching the examination centre before the closing time in terms of the admit card.
The petitioner, who challenged the denial of permission to her to appear in the PGT-Economics (Female) examination, argued that the authorities' action cannot be sustained based on their defence that there was already a notification informing the candidate desirous of wearing a kara and/or kirpan, to reach the examination centre at least one hour before the reporting time as such notification was notified only two days after the examination was held.
Justice Rekha Palli said that it was highly unfortunate that a specialised body like the Delhi Subordinate Services Selection Board (DSSSB), which regularly holds examinations with a large number of Sikh candidates, did not take timely action to inform the candidates that if they were desirous of wearing a kara and/or kirpan, they were required to reach the examination centre at least one hour before the reporting time.
The court thus directed DSSSB to ensure that adequate notice, which is well in advance, is given concerning the additional requirement to reach the examination centre one hour before the reporting time in case a candidate is wearing a kara and/or kirpan so that no undue hardship is caused to them.
It is highly unfortunate that a specialised body like the DSSSB, which is regularly conducting examinations for selection to various posts in the public sectors in Delhi and in which examinations, a large number of Sikh candidates regularly appear, did not bother to take any timely action to inform the candidates that if they were desirous of wearing a kara and/or kirpan, they were required to reach the examination centre at least one hour before the reporting time, said the court in its order dated July 11.
The respondent nos. 3 & 4 (concerned authorities), having not taken any steps to inform the prospective candidates about this requirement to reach the examination centre at least one hour before the reporting time and having prevented the petitioner from appearing in the examination till she removed her kara and permitted the sleeves of her dress to be cut to half, have wrongly prevented the petitioner from appearing in the examination wherein she had an opportunity of being selected and appointed as PGT-Economics (Female). The action of the respondent nos. 3 & 4 is, therefore, clearly unsustainable and is liable to be quashed, the court said.
The court said that it expected all other recruiting agencies as well to take appropriate steps in this regard well before the conduct of the examinations.
The counsel for the authorities said that they have always permitted all Sikh candidates wearing kara and/or kirpan to appear in examinations provided they reach the examination centre one hour before the reporting time and since the petitioner reported barely two minutes before the closing time and that too in a full sleeves dress, she was to be blamed for being not permitted to appear in the examination at that belated stage.
The court however noted that in the present case, it was an admitted position that the notification concerning those wearing kara and/or kirpan was issued only two days after the conduct of the examination.
The petitioner said that she has no objection to re-appear in the examination subject to her being granted requisite age relaxation and the examination being conducted in a time-bound manner and the court granted time to the authorities to state their stand on the same.
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Real Madrid fines Valverde and Tchouaméni half a million euros each for altercation
Barcelona (AP): Real Madrid slapped players Federico Valverde and Aurélien Tchouaméni with half-a-million-euro ($588,000) fines on Friday for their altercation during practice.
The massive fines came a day after the midfielders tussled when the team trained. Valverde said in a post on social media on Thursday that no punches were thrown. But Valverde knocked his head on a table and he suffered a small cut that required a brief hospital visit.
On social media, Valverde initially called it a “meaningless fight” with a teammate and said “everything has been blown out of proportion."
His employers, however, considered it a significant enough breach of team discipline to nail both Valverde and Tchouaméni with fines that bite even the bank account of a top soccer player. The half-a-million euro penalties reflect the reputational damage the club was enduring in a chaotic end to a disappointing season.
In a statement, the 15-time European champion said its disciplinary action was concluded after both players expressed to the club “their complete remorse for what happened and apologized to one another.”
Madrid added they also apologized to their teammates, the coaching staff and club supporters, as well as showing their willingness to accept whatever disciplinary action the club deemed “opportune.”
Tchouaméni was back training with Madrid on Friday, two days before they play at Barcelona in a clasico. Madrid has to win otherwise Barcelona will be crowned La Liga champion.
After being notified of the fine, he posted a public apology to the club and its fans on social media.
“What happened this week in training is unacceptable,” Tchouaméni wrote. "I say this while thinking about the example we are expected to set for young people, whether in football or at school.
“Above all, I am sorry for the image we projected of the club.”
Valverde was not at practice due to the head knock.
Both players are set to play in the World Cup next month, with Tchouaméni playing for France and Valverde for Uruguay.
Chaotic end to a poor season
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The run-in between the players, who for seasons have played side by side in Madrid's midfield, came after they argued this week in previous training sessions. But tempers boiled over on Thursday. Spanish media was rife with reports that the players previously disagreed over the club's decision to let coach Xabi Alonso go after just months on the job.
It was not the only altercation involving Madrid players during training this week. Álvaro Carreras confirmed he was in a “minor” incident with a teammate. Spanish media said he and fellow defender Antonio Rüdiger got into a scuffle.
Álvaro Arbeloa, the coach who was promoted from Madrid's reserve team when Alonso was fired in January, will face tough questions on what went wrong inside the changing room when he gives a press conference on Saturday ahead of the clasico at Camp Nou.
Madrid is facing a second consecutive campaign without a major trophy amid rumors in the Spanish media that club president Florentino Pérez is considering bringing back Jose Mourinho to straighten out his underperforming team.
