NEW DELHI: Delhi HC has temporarily halted the appointment of Anilkumar Prabhakaran as the Secretary General of the All India Football Federation following a petition that claims his selection breaches the National Sports Code.
During Wednesday’s hearing, Justice Sachin Datta issued an interim stay on Prabhakaran’s appointment and scheduled further arguments for April 8. The court was hearing a plea filed by Ranjit Bajaj, director of Delhi Football Club, who challenged the legality of Prabhakaran’s selection.
Bajaj’s legal team, led by advocate Rahul Mehra and lawyer Shivam Singh contended that Prabhakaran had been previously elected as a member of the AIFF Executive Committee, making him ineligible for the administrative post. The petition argued that his appointment contravened guidelines established by the Ministry of Sports and Youth Affairs.
According to the plea, the Sports Ministry has explicitly prohibited national sports federations from appointing former executive committee members to administrative roles.
The Centre’s counsel reinforced this stance, citing a February 2022 directive that disqualifies elected office bearers from later securing salaried administrative positions within the same federation.
The court has sought responses from the Ministry of Sports, AIFF, and Prabhakaran regarding the matter. The petition pointed out that in a similar case involving the Table Tennis Federation of India, the Centre had taken decisive action, yet no such measure had been enforced in this instance.