CHENNAI: The COVID-19 lockdown has done little to douse the unrest in All India Chess Federation (AICF). In the latest episode of the battle, the president has suspended the secretary, who shot back saying that he doesn’t have the power to take such a step. Since the matter may require judicial intervention, no immediate headway seems visible under the circumstances. The development is a continuation of the fight between the sides led by AICF president PR Venketrama Raja and secretary Bharat Singh Chauhan. Elections could have offered a solution, but that is sub-judice and stuck in the Madras High Court due to the coronavirus pandemic. That, however, has not led to a ceasefire.
Levelling at least nine charges against Chauhan, Raja wrote he is using his “extraordinary powers” as AICF president “under Article 15 (a) of the AICF constitution” to “remove” Chauhan from the secretary’s post. “All your actions contrary to and in violation of this notice shall be null and void,” read the letter accessed by this daily. Chauhan said Raja is not the AICF president and even if he is, he doesn’t have the authority to dismiss an elected official without two-third majority of the general body or central council of the federation. He insisted that Ajay Patel is the AICF president.
That sounded odd, considering that the Madras High Court had set aside that election process and Patel’s appeal challenging that order in the Supreme Court was also turned down. However, Chauhan claimed otherwise. “While setting aside the election process (that elected Patel president), the court never said the previous set of office-bearers will remain in office. So Patel stays president. I will write to the people he (Raja) has written to and explain this,” said Chauhan, who was elected secretary with Patel before the court overruled that election.
Even if there are loopholes in Chauhan’s argument, the Raja camp will find it hard to prove it right now because the courts are functioning only for emergency cases. The AICF’s election matter has also got held up due to this. “Chauhan knows that if elections take place, he will lose. So he is trying to stall the process by hook or crook,” said RM Dongre, aspirant for the secretary’s post from the Raja faction. Chauhan countered by saying that the Raja group is taking action against him to divert attention from a letter from the Sports Commissioner of Maharashtra, which asks the AICF to direct the All Marathi Chess Association to submit the expenditure statement for the World Youth Championship held in Mumbai last year.