Sunita Rani, Indian athletics' "fallen" princess, can afford a smile. Last week, a one-man commission appointed by the Amateur Athletic Federation of India (AAFI) and headed by lawyer Sushil Dutt Salwan, cleared the clouds of a doping controversy hovering above the versatile middle-distance runner. Rani who won the 1500 m event and was placed third in the 5000 m at last month's Asian Games in Busan, South Korea, was stripped of her medals following dope tests in Korea that returned positive results-she was said to have taken the banned nandrolone decanoate, an injectable testosterone whose anabolic effects remain active in the human body for a long time.

PHOTO FINISH: The report could reinstate Sunita's lost honour

Now Salwan's exhaustive report, submitted to AAFI President and MP Suresh Kalmadi and Secretary Lalit Bhanot (both have rushed to Monte Carlo to take up the matter with the International Amateur Athletics Federations), has a revealing tale to tell. After speaking to several officials who were part of the Indian contingent and scrutinising a range of documents, he has brought out the dubious manner in which Rani's tests were carried out in Seoul, far removed from the testing norms laid down by world federations.

At the same time, Salwan has also called for radical changes in the conduct of coaches, trainers, doctors and sports administrators in India. He also criticised the casual manner in which the problem of doping is generally dealt with. Kalmadi, while accepting the report, said, "It was unfortunate that Sunita Rani had to suffer after performing outstandingly at Busan."

The report, available exclusively to India Today, mentions that tests on Rani's first urine sample (A) on September 30, 2002 at the Dope Testing Centre in Delhi were negative. It obviated the need to examine the second sample (B). But now, Salwan insists in his report that a DNA test needs to be carried out on the untested sample to prove beyond doubt that the urine collected belonged to Rani.

Based on the September 30 report, Rani was cleared for Busan. She won the 1500 m gold on October 10 and was taken away for a test to a place where entry, under normal circumstances, should have been heavily restricted. But it wasn't. Salwan spoke to journalists who covered the Games and was told that almost anyone could have walked in and tampered with the samples.

Curiously, after the 5000 m event two days later, Rani was asked to present herself before a panel. Among those present were chef de mission Jagdish Tytler, Bhanot and Sunita's coach Renu Kohli. Objections were raised about the procedure adopted for the test and the documentation itself.

Here are some of the findings:

• The B sample acquired on October 10 was not sent to a separate lab for tests.
• The difference between nandrolone content was stark-21 NG/ML in the first case, 6 NG/ML in the second. This is not internationally acceptable.
• Most of the data sheets of the Doping Control Center (an internationally accredited lab with ISO 17025 rating) in Seoul did not carry dates.
• One printout showed a date of "October 200", another October 16, 2001.
• There is no proof that the printout relates to the dates when samples were taken.
• In the report, the same doctor has signed for different officials.
• At one place the figure "6" in NG/ML has been overwritten by hand, it appears to be "2".

The men who have carried the report to Monte Carlo are now out to prove that Rani was framed. The Salwan findings certainly point in that direction.