NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court on Wednesday raised concerns over the "infighting" and "disputes" in sporting federations in the country saying such an environment was not conducive for sports.
A bench of Chief Justice D K Upadhyaya and Justice Tushar Rao Gedela made the observation in an appeal of the Boxing Federation of India (BFI) against a single judge's order over its election process.
During the hearing, the counsel appearing for the secretary and treasurer of the federation said the appeal was not duly filed as it was instituted by the BFI president without any authority.
The appellant's counsel, however, said the secretary and the treasurer were suspended.
The bench asked the parties to "resolve" the dispute and said every sporting federation in the country was embroiled in litigation and "inter se disputes came in the way of interest of sports."
"Every sports federation has some dispute. Your function affects the entire nation. Why this kind of infighting? These kinds of things pave the way for where you can be disqualified by the international body. Sports internationally is governed by international Olympic charter. The charter says the (national) body has to be autonomous. Autonomy is being compromised by litigation," the court said.
The bench went on, "Such kind of infighting I can't understand. Every single sports federation is in litigation."
While posting the matter on April 7, the bench cautioned "what had to be done" if the infighting did not stop.
"If the infighting does not stop, we know what to do. Please stop. In the interest of sports, we know what to do," it said.
The BFI plea challenges a March 19 order of a single judge, who stayed the federation's March 7 decision to allow only elected members of its affiliated state units to represent their respective states in the upcoming elections in the sporting body.
The single judge's order came on a plea of Delhi Amateur Boxing Association and held the process of election should continue along with the declaration of results but it was subject to the petition's final outcome.
The final list of electoral college approved by the returning officer had omitted the two names sent by the Delhi Amateur Boxing Association -- Rohit Jainendra Jain and Neeraj Kant Bhatt -- after it was found that they were "ineligible" on the basis of the March 7 circular.
The BFI elections, initially slated for March 28 were postponed.
In the appeal, the appellant said the single judge's order raised serious practical difficulties in its implementation and reeked of non-application of mind.
"The impugned order is unenforceable inasmuch as it permits the respondent number 1 (Delhi Amateur Boxing Association) to participate in an election being conducted by the returning officer whereas he has not even been made a party to the matter. Thus, no directions pertaining to the election process could be granted, and such a grave error, in and of itself, vitiates the Impugned Order," the appeal said.
The plea added that the order failed to also consider that the BFI's election process was at a "very advanced stage of scrutiny of nominations" and any interference was unwarranted.