The high-profile election of the Indian OlympicAssociation will now be held on December 5, ten days after its earlierscheduled date of November 25 following the resignation of Election CommissionChairman S Y Quraishi.
The elections had to be postponed in the wake of dramaticresignation of Quraishi, a former Chief Election Commissioner, citing IOA'sbacktracking from its earlier commitment to hold the polls under theGovernment's Sports Code.
The remaining two members of the Commission, ReturningOfficer Justice V K Bali (Retd) and Justice J D Kapoor (Retd) then postponedthe scrutiny of the nomination till appointment of the new chairman of theCommission.
IOA then re-constituted the three-member Election Commissionand appointed Justice Anil Dev Singh, Retired Chief Justice of Rajasthan HighCourt, as its Chairman.
After the meeting of the re-constituted Commission attendedby all the members, Justice Bali announced the rescheduled date of the elections.
According to the re-schedule of the elections released byJustice Bali, list of nomination received have been displayed at his office.The scrutiny of nominations will be held on November 24 while withdrawal ofnominations will be from November 25 to 29. The elections will be held onDecember 5 from 1400 hrs onwards.
IOA Secretary General Randhir Singh is contesting theelection against Abhay Singh Chautala for the president's post while taintedsports administrator Lalit Bhanot is contesting the post of Secretary Generalagainst Volleyball Federation of India Secretary General K Murugan and JudoFederation of India General Secretary Mukesh Kumar.
The election has witnessed a bitter war of words between therival factions who have accused each other of trying to stall the electionprocess to garner the required numbers.
The upcoming election is also mired in controversy with theIOC insisting it should be held under the Olympic Charter while the ElectionCommission has notified that it should be held under the Government's SportsCode following the Delhi High Court order.
The new Election Commission, headed by Justice (Retd) AnilDev, said that the December 5 polls would be held under the Government's SportsCode.
"Whereas on appointment of Hon'ble Justice Anil DevSingh ... as Chairman of Election Commission by Acting President of the IOAvide letter dated November 19, 2012, meeting of re-constituted Commission underthe chairmanship of Justice Singh took place on 20.11.2012 wherein the earlierdecision of the previous Election Commission of which Dr S Y Quraishi was theChairman taken in its meeting on 03.11.2012 relating to the applicability ofSports Code of the Government of India and Constitution/Memorandum/Byelaws ofIOA was agreed upon," returning office Justice (Retd) Bali said in thenotification posted on the IOA website.
The Quraishi-led previous Election Commission had notifiedthat the polls would be held under Sports Code of the government while theconstitution and bye-laws of the IOA would to be used only as a supportingfactor.
"wherever there are specific provisions governing theelections in Sports Code of Government of India, these will be applicable. Ifany provision is silent as to the process of elections, the provisions ofconstitution/memorandum/bye-laws of the IOA will be applicable. Whenever thereis a conflict in the provisions of the Sports Code of the Government of Indiaand constitution/memorandum/bye-laws as to the process of the elections, theprovisions of the Sports Code will be applicable," Justice Bali had said.
According to the fresh election schedule drawn by the newElection Commission, the scrutiny of nominations will be done tomorrow and thelist of validly nominated candidates will also be displayed tomorrow.
Withdrawal of nominations can be done from November 25 toNovember 29 -- the day the final list of contesting candidates will also bedisplayed at the office of returning officer.
The names of those who have filed nominations for theelections have been displayed at the office of Justice Bali.
"In terms of sub-clause (7) of clause 6 (AnnexureXXXVII) of Sports Code of Government of India relating to 'Nomination ofCandidates', list of all nominations received by me as Returning Officerpost-wise prepared in Form 3 has been published and displayed at conspicuousplace in my office for the information of one and all," Justice Bali said.