They are both junior state champions in badminton. They went to play in a tournament in the neighbouring state of Jharkhand in September. There, they learned that they had been suspended. Based on complaints from the organisers of that tournament in Jharkhand, the West Bengal Badminton Association suspended them for six months.
The allegation was that they were drinking alcohol at night. But three days later, those same organisers from Jharkhand informed the Bengal Badminton Association that there had been a misunderstanding and they were withdrawing the complaint. But even after that, the state association did not lift the suspension. Saikat Bandyopadhyay and Aditya Mandal approached the Calcutta High Court against this.
On Wednesday, High Court Justice Krishna Rao did not order the suspension to be lifted but stated that the two can play during this time. Along with this, the High Court has directed the disciplinary committee of the West Bengal Badminton Association to complete the investigation within seven days.
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According to sources, nineteen-year-old Saikat and Aditya had also represented India in the Junior Asian Badminton Championship in Indonesia in 2019. Saikat's home is in Beleghata, Aditya lives in a housing complex near Anandpur adjacent to EM Bypass. In Jharkhand on September 4, the coach and manager also discussed with them about preparing for the game.
But when they woke up on the morning of September 5, they learned that not only were they excluded from the tournament, but they had been suspended for six months.
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However, on September 7, the tournament organisers in Jharkhand emailed the West Bengal Badminton Association stating that shouting sounds had been heard from those two players' room, and due to a misunderstanding, that complaint was made 'in the heat of the moment'. In the High Court, lawyers for Saikat and Aditya, Koel Mukhopadhyay and Anirban Guhathakurta, argued that the organisers informed the state association that they were withdrawing the complaint. Both players emailed the state association on September 8. They requested the withdrawal of the suspension by clearing up the misunderstanding. But no response came from the state association. After that, they approached the High Court. According to sources, it is believed that state badminton politics and factional conflicts are involved behind all this.
When West Bengal Badminton Association secretary Shekhar Biswas was asked about the High Court's order, he said, “I will not say anything about this.”
