The case, filed under section 499 and section 500 of the Indian Penal Code, was initiated by Akhil after Dilbag accused him of ‘manipulating’ and ‘rigging’ the selection for last year’s World Championships. Dilbag, who lost to Akhil’s prodigy Mandeep Jangra in the trials held in Patiala last August, had accused Akhil of bribing the selection committee to favour Jangra.
A furious Akhil demanded an apology, which Dilbag refused to tender despite being served a legal notice. Now Akhil, a former Olympic quarterfinalist besides being a World Cup bronze-medallist, has initiated legal proceedings against Dilbag, a former national champion, at the District Court in Chandigarh. Dilbag had been show-caused by the national federation and forced to tender an apology, after much defiance, for making similar allegations against national coach G S Sandhu and the selection committee.
‘I had initiated the steps to sue him at that time itself but I was waiting for the legal process to start after giving him six months time to tender an apology. I was very clear that I would not let the issue just pass like that because he had sullied my reputation,’ Akhil said. Akhil’s lawyer Karan Sharma said Akhil’s statement has already been recorded and the matter would next be heard on July 9 when the court will take a call on issuing a notice to Dilbag. ‘It is a criminal complaint and if the charges are proved, Dilbag will either have to apologise or fine or face imprisonment. He refused to apologise when a legal notice was sent to him. Akhil’s statement was recorded today,’ he said.
Dilbag, the 2010 CWG bronze-medallist, has a chequered career tainted by a doping ban, which he incurred after testing positive for banned substances in the 2011 National Games. Interestingly, Akhil’s legal action comes just weeks ahead of another selection trial scheduled in the third week week of May. This time, the trials are for the Commonwealth Games to be held in Glasgow, Scotland.
A furious Akhil demanded an apology, which Dilbag refused to tender despite being served a legal notice. Now Akhil, a former Olympic quarterfinalist besides being a World Cup bronze-medallist, has initiated legal proceedings against Dilbag, a former national champion, at the District Court in Chandigarh. Dilbag had been show-caused by the national federation and forced to tender an apology, after much defiance, for making similar allegations against national coach G S Sandhu and the selection committee.
‘I had initiated the steps to sue him at that time itself but I was waiting for the legal process to start after giving him six months time to tender an apology. I was very clear that I would not let the issue just pass like that because he had sullied my reputation,’ Akhil said. Akhil’s lawyer Karan Sharma said Akhil’s statement has already been recorded and the matter would next be heard on July 9 when the court will take a call on issuing a notice to Dilbag. ‘It is a criminal complaint and if the charges are proved, Dilbag will either have to apologise or fine or face imprisonment. He refused to apologise when a legal notice was sent to him. Akhil’s statement was recorded today,’ he said.
Dilbag, the 2010 CWG bronze-medallist, has a chequered career tainted by a doping ban, which he incurred after testing positive for banned substances in the 2011 National Games. Interestingly, Akhil’s legal action comes just weeks ahead of another selection trial scheduled in the third week week of May. This time, the trials are for the Commonwealth Games to be held in Glasgow, Scotland.