CHENNAI: The recent Delhi High Court judgement on Judo Federation of India seems to be quite an interesting one. There are two points that stand out. The first one, in an apparent deviation from their old practice, the Delhi HC had ordered that an interim executive committee be formed. Until this, there have been many decisions since the ill-fated Table Tennis Federation of India’s 2021 order, that always believed in forming an ad-hoc committee; sometimes, to the chagrin of all stakeholders, directing the Indian Olympic Association to form it.
The second point is that the court has not entirely entertained the JFI administrator’s request that his draft constitution be accepted. The reason? Well, the National Sports Governance Act is in force as well as the National Sports Governance (National Sports Bodies) Rules and the court has said that the constitution has to align with both.
Among all federations, judo seemed to have one of the longest serving administrators appointed in 2022 by the same HC. It has been close to four years but the election never took place nor the constitution aligned with the national sports code then. The HC had said in 2022 that the “mandate to undertake review of its existing constitution and bringing it in line with the National Sports Code, 2011 and to take preparatory steps towards holding elections to the Executive Committee”. However, it has been close to four years and nothing has transpired.
The single judge bench of Purushaindra Kumar Kaurav was clear that the draft constitution of the administrator cannot be accepted without incorporating the provisions of the NSG Act and rules. According to the court order dated February 12, the whole exercise of electing a new JFI would require some nine months, if everything goes off well.
The first step, according to the order, would be calling the general body meeting in the next one month. “The Administrator, JFI is directed to call an Annual General Meeting [AGM], within a period of thirty days from today for the purpose of conducting elections to the JFI,” said the order.
The order said that within the next two months from the date on which the AGM is held, the electoral college should be finalised and published as per the provisions of the NSG Act and the Rules framed. In the next one month, the court has directed the JFI general body to elect an interim executive committee who will take charge of administration from the administrator. And in the next two months they would “make necessary amendments in the constitution of JFI and to take steps towards bringing the constitutions of its members, fully in line with the mandate of the NSG Act, and the Rules would conduct the elections under the provisions of the NSG Act and rules.”
Interestingly, the court has said that not just the JFI but all its members (that is state associations and union territories) will also have to follow the same provisions as listed in the NSG Act and Rules. The elections will be conducted in the next three months after finalizing the constitution.
If everything goes according to the order, this might set a precedent for future ligations involving sports administration in the country. All constitutions need to be aligned, right to its state units, with the latest provisions of the NSG Act and Rules.