As India top dope offenders list again, Anti-Doping Bill to be tabled in Monsoon Session

New Delhi: On the day India continued to top Athletics Integrity Unit’s (AIU) global list of dope offenders, the Sports Ministry assured that the National Anti-Doping Bill will be tabled in the upcoming Monsoon Session of the Parliament.In AIU’s list, India accounted for 162 dopers, ahead of Kenya (148) and Russia (60). It includes individuals who are serving bans for doping offenses by virtue of testing positive for banned substance and/or tampering, evading testing, trafficking, or missing whereabouts.Under the amended bill, trafficking and distribution of prohibited substances to athletes will carry a jail term of five years.“Until now, athletes were penalised for such infractions. They would get suspensions or bans. But we need to go after those who supply them with these substances, including medical practitioners,” said a Ministry official.The public consultation period for the amended bill expired on June 18. The Monsoon session of the Parliament begins on July 20.The amendment is similar to the one proposed in 2018. At that time, a jail term of four years and a fine of Rs 2 lakh was sought for organised crime syndicates and anyone who was found guilty of supplying banned substances to athletes.However, the provisions were scrapped from the bill that was eventually passed in 2022 and amended once again last year as the government sided with the idea of a “preventive legislation, rather than a criminal legislation.”India has also topped World Anti-Doping Agency’s (WADA) global list for the past three years.