Reprieve for HI: Body not temporary, says HC

In a reprieve for Hockey India (HI), the Delhi High Court on Wednesday observed that the body could not be treated as a temporary, but was in fact a society registered under the law, competent to hold elections in accordance with the rules.

Hearing a petition that sought probe into functioning of various sports bodies and the appointment of independent election officers for conducting HI polls, a Division Bench of Chief Justice A P Shah and Justice Rajiv Sahai Endlaw refused to agree with the petitioner’s contention that HI was a temporary body constituted in last May only for a period of six months for the purpose of holding fair elections.

According to petitioner Rahul Mehra, because the tenure of the HI ended in last November and no constitution was finalised in this period, the legal competence of the body to conduct election was in question.

However, Additional Solicitor General (ASG) A S Chandhiok, appearing for the Centre, countered the argument and said that HI was a society registered under the Act concerned.

The ASG also submitted that the HI had affiliated 30 state federations and four other agencies for the polls.

The Bench then went through the relevant rules and documents and noted, “It is a misconception that HI was an interim body. Seven signatories were initially made its members and it is registered as a society under the laws.”

The court’s observation is significant, for a question over existence of HI was bound to have severe repercussions on its existence and functioning, let alone its power to conduct the election.

As of now, the elections that were scheduled for February 7 anyway stand postponed after a Rajasthan High Court stay order.

The Bench meanwhile asked all respondents — Ministry of Sports, IOA, HI and SAI — to file their affidavits by Monday detailing the way observers and returning officer for the election should be appointed. The authorities have also been asked to furnish a list of people deemed competent to act as observer and returning officer.

Confusion over Maharashtra hockey body’s affiliation

Pune: The Maharashtra State Olympic Association (MSOA) has said it is withdrawing the application for the affiliation of the Maharashtra Hockey Association with Hockey India on the grounds of discrepancies in documents. The MSOA alleged that documents provided over the merger of Mumbai Hockey Association with the Maharashtra body were forged. “The Mumbai Hockey Association had given false documents regarding the merger with the Maharashtra Association in August. On this discovery, the application for the affiliation has been withdrawn”, said Balasaheb Landge, secretary general of MSOA. Mumbai Hockey Association spokesperson Joaquim Carvalho said that the documents had been forwarded by the previous management, led by Kehar Singh. HI said that they hadn’t received any word yet, but would investigate it further. “The procedure of disaffiliation is complex and a decision can only be taken by Hockey India,” HI secretary general Narendra Batra said. — Kabir Mandrekar