Denying Arjuna to Manoj Kumar was mistake: Govt

Government on Tuesday admitted it was a mistake to deny Arjuna award to Commonwealth Games gold-medalist boxer Manoj Kumar initially and said it happened because of “mistaken identity”. “It was our mistake. It had happened due to mistaken identity. As soon as the error was detected, we have decide to confer the Arjuna award to Manoj Kumar,” sports minister Sarbananda Sonowal told Lok Sabha during Question Hour. After being snubbed for a second time, Manoj took the legal route and filed a case in the Delhi High Court. In the court, the ministry had admitted Manoj was initially not considered for the award by the committee as they mistakenly believed that he was involved in a doping case. Sonowal said the selection process of Arjuna award is very transparent and the sports ministry has moved to objective selection process from its earlier subjective process.