The Delhi High Court's stay on the Indian Olympic Association's (IOA) election which was scheduled to be held in Guwahati on December 19 has remained on Thursday till the next hearing which is supposed to be held on December 10.
"Well, this hearing was an extension of the previous hearing held on the 30th of November and the state has held the elections till today. This election is a violation of all directives of the National Sports Code." said Petitioner Rahul Mehra while speaking to ANI.
The Division bench of the Delhi HC comprising Justice Manmohan and Justice Najmi Waziri was hearing a petition filed by lawyer and activist Rahul Mehra. Surprisingly there were two factions representing the IOA one belonging to President Narinder Batra and the other one representing Secretary General Rajeev Mehta.
"The matter is being heard in court for both parties. The IOA had two factions representing in the court clearly showing that there is a lot of infighting going on in IOA not for the betterment of the sport but for power and money. It was an urgent application in Public Interest Litigation. So, as per further orders from the court, these elections cannot take place. The next hearing is on the 10th of December. IOA was pushing for election despite the court orders." explained Rahul Mehra to ANI.
The senior advocate Rahul Mehra has also emphasized the presence of sportspersons in the Sports administrative body and wants 25 per cent of their participation in National Sports Federations.
"India of the 21st century loves sports. I hope a verdict will come where the likes of Abhinav Bindra and Neeraj Chopra will be able to hold posts in Sporting federations and bodies. The Waring factions in IOA cannot see eye to eye.IOA has a problem in accomodating 25 per cent of Sportspersons in the federation Actually, it should be the other way around. If Sourav Ganguly can, Thomas Bach being sports persons can then why can't others. The court is hearing the matter in an urgent manner." told Rahul Mehra to ANI.
The nomination process for the IOA election was supposed to begin on December 2 and end by December 4 evening. As per sports lawyer Rahul Mehra, who had approached the Delhi HC to direct the IOA to change its constitution as per the National Sports Code.
"The IOA is in violation of these Sports codes for 11 years. These elections are meaningless and they should have stayed. IOA has difficulty adhering to the codes of 1975. It is an archaic body. These are policy issues that the court of law has to adjudicate and it can happen anytime soon. I am happy that the decision on this will come soon." said Rahul Mehra to ANI.
All eyes will be on Delhi HC as they will hear the case again on December 10 whether the stay on IOA election will remain or they will get a go-ahead.
( With inputs from ANI )
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