The Delhi High Court on Wednesday asked the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports to maintain status quo in respect to the decision to provisionally renew the annual recognition of 54 National Sports Federations (NSFs) till further orders.
A division bench of Justices Hima Kohli and S Prasad said that the sports ministry tried to "overreach" the order of the court while proceeding to take this decision even if it is provisional in nature, without first approaching the court and seeking its consent.
On February 7, the court had directed the Indian Olympics Association (IOA) and sports ministry to inform the court in advance while seeking to take any decision in connection with the NSFs.
The court noted in an application filed by the ministry and said, "It transpires that in the teeth of the order dated February 7, the sports ministry has on its own proceeded to provisionally renew the annual recognition in respect of 54 federations for the year 2020, till September 30."
"The ministry shall maintain status quo ante in respect of the said decision as well, till further orders," it observed.
However, the court noted that it is refraining from imposing any costs on the sports ministry for the present after it sought to withdraw the decision taken.
"The sports ministry shall issue a fresh notice within two days intimating all the 54 NSFs concerned that its order giving provisional renewal till September 30, stands recalled. As and when a fresh application is moved by the sports ministry, the notice shall be placed on record," the court observed.
The court was hearing a public interest litigation filed by advocate Rahul Mehra seeking a probe into the functioning of various sports bodies.
Mehra drew the attention of the court to the affidavit dated June 16 filed by the sports ministry wherein it has been stated that the ministry proposes to restore the suspension/withheld government recognition of three NSFs namely, Indian Golf Union (IGU), School Games Federation of India (SGFI) and the Rowing Federation of India (RFI).
( With inputs from ANI )