IOA case: SC asks Centre to talk to world body

The Supreme Court on Monday directed the Centre to open channels of communication with the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to find an agreeable solution by Thursday on running the Indian Olympic Association (IOA).

The country’s apex sports body is currently run by a three-member Committee of Administrators (CoA) headed by a retired Supreme Court judge. It is tasked with framing a new constitution for the IOA in line with the National Sports Code and to manage its day-to-day affairs till elections are held after drawing up the voters’ list. This arrangement was ordered by the Delhi high court on August 17 but the top court had directed status quo and had been hearing on the future course of action relating to IOA’s constitution and elections.

On Monday, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for Centre, informed the SC that the IOA could face the plight of the All India Football Federation (AIFF), which was suspended by global body, FIFA, for a CoA taking over the federation.

Mehta showed a letter the IOC Executive Board wrote to the IOA secretary general on September 8. The IOC has postponed its Mumbai session from May 2023 to September/October and warned that if a roadmap is not in place to hold IOA elections, the Executive Board could move the IOC session out of India. It also warned that Indian players would be disqualified from international events.

The letter said IOC will organise a meeting with all parties at its Lausanne headquarters on September 27 to find a solution.

A bench of justices Dhananjaya Y Chandrachud and Hima Kohli said, “We want IOC to be on board. The IOC letter says that they would like the Secretary General, IOA to run the day-to-day affairs. Let the Government of India take up the matter with the international body on who should be in charge of administration till the IOA constitution is adopted. That person should be a neutral person.”

Posting the matter for Thursday, the court said, “The Secretary, Ministry of Sports and Youth Affairs will interact with IOC Director and revert back to this Court so that a solution is found in line with the interest of sports in India and in the interest of IOC.”

Mehta suggested that if a neutral person is made in charge of IOA, a retired SC judge could be tasked with bringing out the constitution and holding elections. The bench was open to this suggestion but told the SG, “Let Sports Secretary coordinate with IOC. If we pass an order and IOC does not agree, it will not augur well for the dignity of this Court.”

The Centre faced opposition from senior lawyer Rahul Mehra, who had petitioned against IOA before the Delhi high court. He said the CoA need not be dismantled as this was a ploy to bring in the IOA secretary general, who is not a paid employee.

In his petition before the HC, Mehra stated that IOA elections had been due since last December and it was yet to bring its administration in line with the Sports Code. The high court had appointed CoA headed by former Supreme Court judge, Justice (retd) Anil R Dave, and comprising former chief election commissioner SY Qureshi and former secretary Vikas Swarup in the ministry of external affairs.

The high court had directed the IOA EC to “forthwith” hand over charge to the CoA, to be assisted by sportspersons Abhinav Bindra, Anju Bobby George and Bombayla Devi.

Disclaimer: The copyright of this article belongs to the original author. Reposting this article is solely for the purpose of information dissemination and does not constitute any investment advice. If there is any infringement, please contact us immediately. We will make corrections or deletions as necessary. Thank you.