The Indian Olympic Association (IOA) elections, slated to be held in Guwahati on December 19, has waded into choppy waters. The Delhi High Court ordered an interim stay on Tuesday. The matter was heard in response to an urgent petition filed by sports lawyer Rahul Mehra on Monday, requesting the court to intervene. The matter was initially listed for December 10.
Mehra confirmed that an interim stay had been ordered and the matter has been listed for December 2. “Pursuant to an urgent hearing, special bench comprising HMJ Manmohan Singh & HMJ Wajiri after hearing me in my sports PIL as also counsel for UOI & IOA passed interim directions staying elections to the executive council of Indian Olympic Association,” he tweeted.
According to Mehra’s petition, the election on December 19 is “illegal and unsustainable, and ought not to be conducted pending hearing and final disposal of petition and various application...” Mehra’s petition has clubbed all the petitions filed since 2010. He has once again reiterated that IOA’s constitution must be “in compliance with the letter and spirit of the Sports Code, not limited to age and tenure restrictions”. And the elections be held as per the new constitution.
Mehra, in his petition, has requested the court to direct IOA to reschedule the elections and to conduct its elections only in its registered office at Delhi. He raised an objection saying that hosting the elections in Guwahati could lead to manipulation. In regards to the Executive Council members, Mehra is seeking to bring it down to just 12. Right now there are about 30 EC members: one president, two senior vice presidents, nine VPs, one secretary-general, six joint secretaries, one treasurer, 10 EC members.
Another sticky point in the petition is adherence to the mandatory cooling-off period for office-bearers as per sports code. Though some members of the IOA feel it is an interim order and the final direction apropos fate of elections would be known on December 2, some feel it could lead to complications. The dates for filing nominations are December 2-4.
According to some senior members, the court usually doesn’t interfere once the election process starts. Since the interim stay has been ordered, some IOA members feel this could lead to the postponement of the elections. President Narinder Batra has been visiting a lot of states and national sports federation officials of late. In a lunch hosted by a senior official supporting him in New Delhi last week, it is understood some 45-50 senior IOA officials -- from NSFs and state units -- were present.
Another interesting point in Mehra’s petition was in regards to the eligibility of candidates who can contest elections. The petition urges the court to consider “that there are no restrictions to who may contest elections”. The restrictive clause apparently would benefit secretary general Rajeev Mehta’s camp. As one member pointed, his camp will have more choices now. IOA’s rule 11.1.3. says, only members, who had held the office and were elected members in any of the preceding five Executive Council, shall be eligible to contest for posts of president and secretary-general. If there is a stay, the entire poll process would start again, starting with amending the constitution. For now, the IOA suspense continues.