Aligning India’s Anti-Doping Legislation with International Best Practices

The National Anti-Doping (Amendment) Bill, 2025, was introduced in the Lok Sabha on July 23, 2025, alongside the National Sports Governance Bill, 2025. The amendment seeks to streamline the National Anti-Doping Act, 2022, by aligning it with global best practices and the World Anti-Doping Code, particularly by incorporating Article 2 of the Code into domestic law. The bill aims to enhance the institutional and operational independence of the National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA) and the National Anti-Doping Appeal Panel.

Key Highlights of the Bill:

• Codification of International Standards: Article 2 of the World Anti-Doping Code will be incorporated as a Schedule to the Act and will have the force of law in India. The Central Government is empowered to amend the Schedule as the Code evolves.
• Empowering Provisions: The bill empowers Central Government to make rules regarding the accreditation of dope testing laboratories, the constitution of the Appeal Panel and other related matters, the types of decisions that can be appealed, the appeal procedure and timeline, and the manner of communicating its decisions.
• Appeals to CAS: The bill revises the provisions on appeal from the appeal panel to allow the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), International Olympic Committee (IOC), International Paralympic Committee (IPC), and relevant International Federations to appeal decisions of the Appeal Panel to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS). In cases involving international-level athletes or events, appeals against Disciplinary Panel decisions may also be filed by the athlete concerned, NADA, WADA, IOC/IPC, and the International Federation. Additionally, WADA may appeal directly to CAS—without exhausting other remedies—if it has a right under Article 13 of the Code and no other party has appealed.
• Therapeutic Use Exemption (TUE): The provision on TUE has been revised to include that if a doping test is positive, the Agency reviews whether a TUE exists, if there were lab or testing errors, or if ingestion was by a permitted method. If not, the Agency will take further specified action against the athlete.
• Autonomy of Disciplinary Proceedings: The earlier provision allowing the National Board for Anti-Doping to oversee disciplinary panel proceedings has been removed, reinforcing the panel’s independence.
• Operational Independence: The Director General and staff of NADA must function independently of any national or international sports federation or anti-doping body.

While the objective is to streamline the legislation, there are mounting concerns that the shift of power to the government introduced by the bill may undermine the autonomy of the National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA), which is already under the ire of the WADA for alleged political interference. Opposition leaders have called for the bill to be referred to a Joint Parliamentary Committee along with the National Sports Governance Bill, 2025.