CHENNAI: In an interim relief to the Equestrian Federation of India (EFI), the Delhi High Court on Friday, as an ad-hoc measure, allowed the body to declare September 29 election results and permitted the newly elected members of the EFI to function for the time being but under an observer.
The court directed the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports to dispose off the representation made by the EFI seeking exemption from following the National Draft Sports Code within four weeks.
Though the petitioner — Rajasthan Equestrian Association — requested the court to appoint an administrator, it decided to appoint SY Quraishi, former Chief Election Commissioner of India, as the observer. He will oversee the functioning of EFI as per the court order. The observer will also have power to approach the court for approval of any decision taken by the EFI, if he is not in agreement with the same.
“The EFI has been allowed to announce the election results but I would prefer to wait and get hold of the court order before making the results public,” Lieutenant Colonel MM Rahman, joint secretary EFI, told this daily. Petitioner Raghuvendra Singh Dundlod also preferred to wait for the order before making any comments. The order means executive committee of the EFI can start functioning now. The EFI, however, will wait for the court order before declaring election results. While the committee comprises 23 members, elections were held only for 11 posts with remaining officials already elected. The next hearing in the matter is scheduled on February 6, 2020.
Earlier, the Rajasthan unit in its petition pleaded to the court to stop the EFI from holding election or postpone it till October 11, the day when the federation was scheduled to meet the sports minister. The court though had allowed the body to hold the polls but had directed it not to declare the results without seeking court’s approval. The EFI in an application had requested the court to allow it to announce the election results citing functional difficulties.