Karnataka Olympic Association Moves Supreme Court Supporting IOA Plea Against Delhi HC Direction For Take Over By CoA

Karnataka Olympic Association (KOA) has moved an application for impleadment in the Indian Olympic Association's plea against the Delhi High Court's order as per which the affairs of the Indian Olympic Association were put in the hands of a Committee of Administrators (CoA). 

KOA is a member of the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) and has filed the impleadment application through its Secretary General stating that the Impugned Judgment of the Delhi high Court has severely affected its the rights as a member of the IOA. The application states that the Delhi High Court, in the impugned judgemenet was "completely wrong" in failing to understand the decades long efforts of the State Olympic Associations towards the development, protection and promotion of the Olympic movement in their respective States and in diminishing the role of the KOA in the IOA without even providing an opportunity of being heard.

The application submits that–

"While reaching the abovesaid conclusion, the Hon'ble High Court, on a completely erroneous understanding about the State Olympic Associations ("SOAs"), diminished the role of the SOAs in the IOA by holding that the 'SOAs' will have no votes in the IOA nor will their members be elected to the IOA Executive Committee or discharge any position of authority or control nor will the SOAs' be funded, patronized or supported in any manner by the Government'", the petition filed through Advocate Amit Pai stated.

The KOA has further submitted that by taking away their voting rights, the Delhi High Court has altered the democratic setup of the IOA, which has already witnessed misuse of power. It has stated that the alteration of the democratic setup would store the power in a handful number of people who are not connected to the grassroots of the society.

Through the application, KOA has submitted that it is a necessary party in the application and its presence before the Supreme Court in the matter is necessary for effective determination of the involved legal and factual issues.

The issue traces back its origin to a 2010 petition filed by Senior Advocate Rahul Mehra seeking the constitution of the Indian Olympic Association as per the elections held in accordance with the National Sports Code. A division bench of the Delhi High Court, noting that the IOA committee was not continuing as per the National Sports Code, had passed an order on August 16, 2022, stating that if a sports federation did not comply with the law of the land, it would receive no recognition from the Government. Thus, the affairs of IOA were put in the hands of a Committee of Administrators (CoA). 

The petition has been drawn by Advocates Rajesh Inamdar, Harsh Pandey and Ashwin G Raj

https://www.livelaw.in/top-stories/section-482-crpc-supreme-court-judgments-2021-188542

The Supreme Court has ordered a status quo in the issue, effectively putting the High Court direction in abeyance.