NADAP reduces Parvej Khan’s suspension to five years on technical grounds

In Kolkata on November 4, 2026, the National Anti-Doping Appeal Panel (NADAP) reduced athlete Parvej Khan’s suspension to five years on technical grounds. The move follows an earlier six-year ban imposed by a NADA disciplinary panel on August 6, 2025.

Parvej had been notified of two separate matters: three whereabouts failures committed in 2023, of which he was informed on November 24, 2024, and an adverse analytical finding (AAF) for EPO notified on August 28, 2024. NADAP applied Article 10.9.3.1 of the anti-doping rules and held that these two matters "shall be considered together as one single first Anti-Doping Rule Violation."

Under NADAP’s calculation, Parvej must serve the more severe sanction of four years for the AAF plus an additional one-year sanction for Aggravating Circumstances, resulting in a five-year suspension. Because Parvej was provisionally suspended, NADAP ordered that the suspension be served from August 28, 2024.

Parvej’s counsel, Saurabh Mishra, welcomed the reduction but said the athlete, having admitted the EPO violation, was entitled to a further one-year reduction in sanction. Mishra expressed concern about the one-year enhancement on the basis of Aggravating Circumstances, stating: "These circumstances were neither mentioned in the Notice of Charge nor pleaded by NADA during the proceedings. The athlete was never put on notice that such an enhancement was being sought, nor was he given an opportunity to defend himself against it. This raises a fundamental question of procedural fairness."

Mishra said the NADAP order would be challenged at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS). He based the intended challenge on his contention that the aggravating circumstances had not been raised in the Notice of Charge.