Delhi High Court Appoints Retired Justice Najmi Waziri As Chairperson Of Equestrian Federation Of India's Ad-Hoc Administrative Committee

The Delhi High Court has appointed its retired judge, Justice Najmi Waziri, as the Chairperson of ad-hoc Administrative Committee constituted to supervise the administration of the Equestrian Federation of India (EFI).

Justice Tara Vitasta Ganju also directed that the committee will also comprise of former Chief Election Commissioner of India Dr. S.Y. Quraishi as the observer and Advocate Rohini Musa as member.

The court said that the committee shall take over charge of day-to-day administration and functioning of the EFI.

“Upon the AAC assuming charge, the existing office bearers of Respondent No. 1/EFI shall no longer be entitled to discharge any function of the Respondent No.1/EFI, but will render all requisite assistance to the AAC as and when requested by the said Committee,” the court said.

It added that the AAC will have the power to issue all appropriate directions as may be necessary for the day to day functioning of EFI under the signatures of the Chairperson.

Justice Ganju passed the order while hearing an application moved by Rajasthan Equestrian Association challenging the decision taken in EFI's Extra Ordinary General Meeting that the existing office bearers shall continue till elections take place, despite their tenure coming to an end in September last year. It was contended that no such decision was taken by the house during the EGM.

The plea, which was moved in 2019, raised allegations against the EFI that it was conducting elections in contravention of the National Sports Development Code, 2011 and has extended voting rights to clubs and institutions.

The court observed there was no unanimous decision of the house in the EGM to extend the tenure of the office bearers elected in 2019.

Observing that the EFI was functioning without a legitimate official body, the court said:

“This Court is also cognizant of the fact that, in terms of Annexure III of the Sports Code, if there are serious irregularities in the functioning of a National Sports Federation, there is a danger that their recognition may get suspended – a situation which is required to be avoided and which is not in the interest of either the sport or the sportsperson.”

It added: “This Court is of the considered view that the prevailing circumstances exist necessitating the appointment of an administrative committee for Respondent No. 1/EFI, as an interim arrangement, and that there is an urgent and immediate need to protect the interest of the equestrian sports to avoid further deterioration in its affairs, and to safeguard the larger public interest underlying the sport as well as the sportspersons dependent upon it.”

In April last year, a coordinate bench had issued a slew of directions for conducting elections to various posts of the office bearers to the EFI and appointed former high court judge Ajit Bharihoke as the returning officer to determine the electoral college.

The court had observed that the elections to the federation have to be held to ensure that a “democratically elected body” is in place.

Counsel for Petitioner: Mr. Rajiv Dutta, Sr. Advocate with Mr. Ashish Kothari, Mr. Devang Gautam, Ms. Neha Singh and Mr. Vishes Goel, Advocates

Counsel for Respondents: Mr. Jayant Mehta, Sr. Adv. with Mr. Kirtiman Singh and Ms. Manmeet Kaur Sareen, Advocates for R-1/EFI; Mr. Ajay Digpaul, Mr. Harish Vaidyanathan Shankar, Mr. Vineet Dhanda, CGSC with Mr. Srish Kumar Mishra, Mr. Sagar Mehlawat, Mr. Alexander Mithai Paikaday, Mr. M. Sriram and Mr. Krishana V., Advs. for R-2/UOI; Mr. Rahul Mehra, Sr. Adv. with Mr. Piyush Kumar, Mr. Vikash Singh, Mr. Sagar Chaurasia and Mr. R.A. Iyer, Advs for Ld. Court Observer

Title: RAJASTHAN EQUESTRAIN ASSOCIATION v. EQUESTRIAN FEDERATION OF INDIA AND ORS.

Citation: 2024 LiveLaw (Del) 628

Click here to read order