The Tribune: KPS wants Jaitley’s role in Hockey India to be probed

By Ananya Panda

The troubles of Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley appear to be mounting. After the Delhi Government questioned his role in the Delhi and Districts Cricket Association (DDCA) scandal, KPS Gill, chief of the now defunct Indian Hockey Federation, has accused him of “nepotism” in Hockey India (HI). Gill has asked Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal to probe Jaitley’s role in the national hockey body and the “wrongdoings” of its current president Narinder Batra.
In a letter written to Kejriwal two days back, Gill demanded that Jaitley, who happens to be an advisor of Hockey India League (HIL), should either step down as Minister or resign from the HIL’s advisory board. Pointing out a “conflict of interest”, Gill questioned the presence of Jaitley’s daughter in the HIL’s legal panel. Calling for an inquiry, he alleged that a huge amount of money was paid to Jaitley’s daughter.

“The conflict of interest needs to be probed urgently… It’s obvious when you look at the list of the office-bearers in the various committees of Hockey India, and the financial misappropriation of funds meant for hockey,” Gill wrote to the Delhi CM.

Likening the HI “irregularities” to the DDCA scam, the former Punjab DGP also lashed out at Batra. He accused the HI chief of conniving with the bureaucrats of the Sports Ministry and misleading the Sports Minister to not implement the Delhi High Court’s order in favour of IHF.

“What is happening in the DDCA, the same is happening in Hockey India. He (Batra) brooks no opposition and does not allow any HI official to raise his voice,” said Gill.

“Numerous former Olympians, Arjuna awardees and administrators have been hounded out of HI for daring to offer an opinion contrary to Batra’s. Many state bodies (Jharkhand, Maharashtra, Kerala) have been forced to move the court to challenge his style of functioning. It suits him to illegally fill up the coffers of some legal firm belonging to a particular family,” Gill alleged.

Refuting all allegations, Batra said Gill wanted to settle a score with him, though he admitted that Jaitley’s daughter had represented HI in one of its cases for a very short period. He said it was a professional association, and it would be “unfair” to attach any motives to it.

Batra said the legal firm Jaitley and Bakshi was one of the several firms hired by Hockey India. “I don’t know where the conflict of interest comes from… All my dealings and the balance sheet are on the HI website,” Batra said.
It is worth mentioning that the Kejriwal-led Aam Aadmi Party too had taken on Jaitley, seeking to know his connection with Batra and accusing the former of forcing the ONGC to give Rs 5 crore to HI. Suspended BJP leader and former cricketer Kirti Azad too had asked how much money was paid to Jaitely’s daughter and his son-in-law by HI.