Vikram Award row: MP High Court junks mountaineer Patidar's petition, paves way for Dehariya to receive award

Indore: The Indore bench of the Madhya Pradesh High Court on Monday dismissed a petition of mountaineer Madhusudan Patidar, who conquered Mt Everest in 2017, in which he had staked a claim to the state's top sports decoration 'Vikram Award' based on seniority, noting it is devoid of merit.

The single-judge bench also ruled that the state government has not committed any mistake in conferring the Vikram Award for the year 2023 in the adventure sports category to another mountaineer from the state, Bhawna Dehariya, who conquered Mount Everest in 2019.

The HC had completed the hearing on November 18 and reserved the verdict.

The high court on August 5 granted an interim stay on the award to Dehariya after Patidar moved a petition, just hours before the state government's Shikhar Khel Awards ceremony was to be held in Bhopal.

Patidar, a resident of Indore, submitted to the High Court that he should be awarded the Vikram Award in the adventure sports category based on his seniority in mountaineering. However, the state government announced the award to Dehariya without taking any decision on his representation.

However, after examining the documents, the high court found that Patidar scaled Mt Everest in 2017, which falls outside the five-year eligibility period prescribed by the Madhya Pradesh Awards Rules 2021.

According to these rules, athletes in the adventure sports category are eligible to apply for the award if they have consistently participated in adventure sports activities for the past five years and have achieved outstanding achievements with outstanding performance.

The HC held that Patidar, who had conquered Everest eight years earlier, was ineligible for the Vikram Award for the year 2023, and therefore, the state government's decision to reject his claim was correct.

After considering the arguments of all the parties concerned, High Court Justice Pranay Verma said that he did not find any error in the state government's decision to confer the Vikram Award to Dehariya in the adventure sports category.

"Consequently, the petition has no merit and is dismissed. Thus, in view of the aforementioned discussion, I do not find any error having been committed by respondents 1 and 2 in conferring the Vikram Award in the adventure sports category in favour of respondent No.3. The petition is consequently found to be devoid of any merits and is hereby dismissed," the order stated.

Advocate Ankur Tiwari represented Patidar in the court, while lawyer Anunay Shrivastava represented Dehariya.

The Vikram Award, the state's highest sports decoration, has been presented since 1972. Twelve senior athletes who excel in various sports are honoured with the Vikram Award.

Each athlete honoured with the Vikram Award receives Rs 2 lakh and a memento. The awardees are declared as outstanding athletes and get government service appointments.