CHENNAI: In another setback to Indian sports and its administration, the Delhi High Court on Friday stayed the election of the Volleyball Federation of India just a day before the scheduled date. The Delhi High Court has stalled it as the VFI did not comply with an August 2022 (16.08.2022) order and violation of national sports code.Just a few months ago the court intervened in the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) election a day before it was scheduled to happen.
In response to a petition filed by Amir Singh, former India international and an Arjuna Awardee, through sports lawyer Rahul Mehra and others, Delhi HC Judge Sachin Datta said that though the court knows it should not interfere with election process once it started, yet it could not overlook the inconsistency.
“Although, this Court is loath to interfere with the elections once the election process has started, it cannot be lost sight of the fact that the electoral college for the purpose of the ongoing election process is not in accord with what is contemplated in the judgment dated 16.8.2022. This is besides the fact that the constitution of VFI itself is evidently inconsistent with the mandatory directions contained in the judgment dated 16.8.2022,” said the order on Thursday. The election is stayed until the next date of hearing on March 21.
“The respondents are directed to file a reply, which must clearly indicate the road map for making the concerned NSF/VFI compliant with the mandatory directions/requirements set out in the judgment dated 16.08.2022 and/or the Sport Code. Let the same be filed within a period of two weeks from today,” said the order.
Singh’s primary contention was disregard for the provision of inclusion of sportspersons in the NSF with voting rights. “Particular attention has been drawn to the aspect of - (i) the inclusion of sports persons of outstanding merit with voting rights in the general body…”
Interestingly, even the standing council for central government Anil Soni agreed that the VFI is not compliant with the mandatory stipulations laid down in the judgement dated 16.08.2022.
The order also said that “in the present case, no steps whatsoever have been taken by the ad-hoc committee after its constitution… to ensure that the various district associations/state associations are compliant with the requirements of the Sports Code and/or the judgment dated 16.08.2022.” Taking cognizance of the HC order, the Returning Officer (RO) of the election, retired Judge P Krishna Bhat, issued a directive to stall the election.
There were quite a few interesting observations, one being that the elections were supposed to be held at the Sports Authority of India, TEAMS Division at the JN Stadium. In the letter "Guidelines for voters on the polling day" issued by the RO said the election will take place at SAI premises.
The ad hoc committee formed to oversee the day-to-day functioning of the VFI and hold elections was formed by the Indian Olympic Association. Notably, the IOA has an independent house: the IOA Bhawan in New Delhi where the Wrestling Federation of India elections were held.
Another interesting fact is that there are at least 18 disputed state units that needed to be sorted out by RO. The RO had called for a hearing of all the rival factions in the states and had to decide on each one’s legitimacy. There are 34 state units eligible to vote.
The disputed state units’ list has been uploaded on the IOA website. The disputed state units were: Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Chandigarh, Haryana, Odisha, Goa, Puducherry, Punjab, Karnataka, Kerala, Jharkhand, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Telangana, Tripura, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand.