If there’s any news that can lift India’s spirits right now — apart from Neeraj Chopra clinching a historic Silver in the Men’s Javelin Throw — it is of the country’s top lawyer, Harish Salve, deciding to represent the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) hearing on Friday over wrestler Vinesh Phogat’s disqualification from the Paris Olympics.
In major heartbreak for India, United World Wrestling — the sport’s governing body — disqualified Phogat on Wednesday morning for being 100 grams over the weight limit. The turn of events also meant she would return home empty-handed despite beating four-time world and defending Olympic champion Yui Susaki of Japan on Tuesday, then winning her quarterfinal match against Ukraine’s Oksana Livach and her semifinal against Cuba’s Yusneylis Guzman Lopez.
Phogat later announced her retirement, saying, “My courage is broken, I don’t have any more strength now. Goodbye Wrestling, 2001-2024.”
However, the hopes of a billion Indians now rest on Salve, former Solicitor General of India and King’s Counsel. Salve, the Solicitor General of India from 1999 to 2002, is one of India’s top lawyers, known for his exceptional expertise in constitutional, commercial, and arbitration law.
Born into a Marathi family in 1955, he began his legal career as an intern in 1980 at JB Dadachandji & Co. He worked with Soli Sorabjee, former Attorney General, between 1980 and 1986.
In 1992, Salve was designated a senior counsel in Supreme Court, and became Solicitor General of India in 1999. However, he turned down offers of a second term in 2004, citing “personal reasons”. Salve was admitted to the English Bar in 2013 and joined top English barristers at Blackstone Chambers subsequently.
HIGH-PROFILE CASES
Salve has represented several high-profile clients and been part of crucial cases in the legal history of the country. He appeared for Gujarat riots victim Bilkis Bano in 2003, and as a defence counsel in the Aarushi-Hemraj double murder case.
Bollywood actor Salman Khan, who was handed a jail term of five years in the 2002 hit-and-run case, also got reprieve due to Salve’s efforts as the lawyer got him out on bail. Khan was then let off on all charges following Bombay High Court’s decision in December 2015.
In the 2012 Vodafone case against the government, Salve helped the telecom company win a Rs 1,100 crore tax case.
It was in 2019 when Salve hit the headlines for representing India against Pakistan at the International Court of Justice in the Kulbhushan Jadhav case. Jadhav, who was accused of being a spy, had been captured by Pakistan and in 2017, a military court awarded him the death sentence on charges of “terrorism and espionage”. A shaken India moved ICJ to bring attention to the fact that Pakistan had violated the Vienna Convention by not allowing consular access to Jadhav. Agreeing with India’s argument, the ICJ then asked Pakistan to suspend Jadhav’s punishment and grant consular access to India. In Jadhav’s case, Salve — one of India’s highest-paid lawyers — only took a token fee of Re 1.
THE PHOGAT CASE
The IOA filed two appeals with CAS. The first one said that she be allowed to participate in the final but this was rejected. The other is a demand for a joint silver medal, which has been considered.
According to a report by Sportstar, Vinesh’s appeal states: “The excess of 100 g is extremely negligible (representing around 0.1 to 0.2 per cent of the athlete’s weight) and can easily be caused by the bloating of a human body during summer weather, as the heat makes the human body retain more water, scientifically for survival purposes. It can also be due to muscle mass increase as the athlete competed three times on the same day. It can also be caused by the food consumption of the athlete after the competitions to sustain her health and integrity for the demanding competitions.
“The conditions under which she “regained” weight after her first fights clearly show that this was not a case of excess weight providing any advantage whatsoever, but merely the implementation of a classic and essential recovery process. Finally, it should be remembered that the CAS must uphold the fundamental rights of athletes, including the right to respect for their physical integrity.”
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