In a significant development in the ongoing legal dispute between the People’s Armwrestling Federation of India (PAFI) and Australian arm-wrestler Ryan Thomas Bowen, the Gauhati High Court has declined to grant ad-interim relief in favour of Bowen against PAFI’s regulatory directives, while simultaneously flagging concerns over Ryan’s activities in violation of his e-tourist visa conditions.
Ryan has been promoting his own participation in this tournament and been openly stating to having invested Rs 35 lakh in it, all in violation of his e-visa and once one goes deeper, many other regulatory violations and illegalities.
There is apparently a Leave India notice issued against him by the FRRO Guwahati which he appealed claiming his was undergoing medical treatment while simultaneously preparing for his match on July 5.
The June 25 High Court order, in which the visa observation appears, declined to grant him interim relief against the Federation’s directives and listed the matter for a combined hearing on July 13, the same date to which his extended stay now runs.
The dispute arises from a directive issued by PAFI on September 21, 2025, restraining all State Associations, District Associations, Affiliated Clubs and athletes from any form of engagement, collaboration or association with Bowen.
This was followed by an official communication, dated April 24, 2026, from the General Secretary of the World Armwrestling Federation (WAF), placing Bowen under suspension and including him in WAF’s list of individuals “not in good standing” and ineligible to participate or be involved in any official WAF-sanctioned activities. A single bench of the Gauhati High Court had, by its order, dated June 3, 2026, already stayed the operation of the trial court’s order that had suspended PAFI’s directive, meaning PAFI’s regulatory actions have remained operative.
A senior counsel appearing for PAFI before the Court on June 25, 2026, pointed to what the Federation described as a pattern of conduct by Bowen inconsistent with his visa status. The Court recorded these submissions, noting that Bowen is “apparently on an e-tourist visa which restricts him to undertake activities only for recreation, sightseeing, casual visit to meet friends and relatives and attending short-term yoga program.”
The Court further noted allegations that Bowen had himself admitted on his Instagram handle to having invested Rs 35,00,000 into the Eliza Cup, an armwrestling event scheduled for July 5, 2026 in Guwahati, raising questions about whether such commercial activity was consistent with the conditions of his e-tourist visa.
All of this comes days before an event Bowen has been heavily promoting, allegedly in violation of Indian visa regulations. He was the headline competitor and the promoter of the “Eliza Cup,” a 105kg supermatch against American armwrestler Brad Grundy in Guwahati on July 5, staged under Pound for Pound Armwrestling, the commercial promotion he promotes and allegedly claims to own. He is not only competing in it. He is putting it together and approaching athletes to take part. The match with Brad reportedly got cancelled as he was unable to secure a visa.
However, the Court made a pointed observation with regard to Bowen personally, holding that “in the event the respondent (Ryan Thomas Bowen) is found engaging in any kind of activities which is in violation of the general policy guidelines relating to Indian visa, the concerned authorities may take appropriate action against him, including the cancellation of his e-visa, as per relevant laws and rules.”
Crucially, the Court clarified that “the pendency of this case shall not be a bar for the concerned authorities from taking appropriate action if the respondent is found violating the terms of e-tourist visa on strength of which he is presently staying in India.”
This observation is widely seen as significant, as it effectively preserves the jurisdiction of immigration and visa authorities to act independently of the court proceedings, a point PAFI is understood to have pressed before the bench. The matter will next be heard alongside the connected appeal, FAO Number 34/2026, on July 13, 2026.
‘E-Visa Only for Tourism’: Gauhati HC Notes Ryan Bowen’s Rs 35L Investment in Guwahati Event
