Delhi High Court Restores Ad-Hoc Committee Appointed By Indian Olympic Association To Run Affairs Of Wrestling Federation

The Delhi High Court on Friday restored the mandate of the ad-hoc committee appointed by the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) on December 27 last year for overseeing and taking over all the activities and management of Wrestling Federation of India (WFI).

The ad-hoc committee was dissolved by IOA on March 18 after the ban on WFI was lifted in February by the United World Wrestling.

Justice Sachin Datta held that the dissolution of the ad-hoc committee was unwarranted.

However, the court held it shall be open to IOA to reconstitute the ad-hoc committee so as to ensure that the same is a multi-member body comprising of eminent sportspersons or experts who are well-versed in dealing with the International Federations, so as to allay any concerns that the UWW might have as regards the steps taken qua the WFI.

“Dissolution of the ad-hoc committee is thus incongruous and incompatible with continuation of the order dated 24.12.2023 whereby the newly elected Executive Committee of the WFI has been instructed to abstain from administering and managing the day-to-day activities of the Federation with immediate effect,” the court held.

The court passed the order on a plea moved by wrestlers Bajrang Punia, Vinesh Phogat, Sakshi Malik and Satyawrat Kadiyan seeking a direction on the Union Government to not revoke the suspension of Wrestling Federation of India (WFI).

The application was moved by the wrestlers in their plea moved earlier this year against a circular of WFI issued on February 26 to conduct selection trials for the Senior Asian Wrestling Championships 2024 and Asian Olympic Games Qualifier Wrestling Tournament.

In their application, the wrestlers sought directions to immediately appoint a retired judge of the Supreme Court of India or the High Court to take over the management and administration of WFI.

They further sought directions on WFI to handover peaceful possession and access to all resources and database to the court appointed committee headed by a retired judge.

In its interim order passed today, Justice Datta was not inclined to accept the prayer of the wrestlers to the effect that any retired judge be appointed as the administrator of WFI.

“It is deemed apposite to have a multi-member ad-hoc committee (as mentioned aforesaid) to manage and control the affairs of the respondent no.2,” the court said.

It clarified that the mandate of the ad-hoc committee shall be in terms of the communication issued by the Centre to IOA- to manage and control the affairs of the WFI, as per the defined role of NSFs in the National Sports Development Code of India-2011, including the selection of athletes, making entries for the participation of sportspersons in international events, holding of sporting activities, etc.

“As regards the contention that the constitution of respondent no.2 and its affiliated units is not in accordance with the NSDCI, 2011 and a roadmap is required to be put in place to ensure compliance with the NSDCI, 2011, the same shall necessarily be considered at the stage of final disposal of the writ petition, after comprehensively hearing all the concerned parties on this aspect,” the court said.

It also clarified that the directions are subject to further orders that may be passed in the writ petition and that today's interim order shall not be construed as a final expression of opinion on the merits of the contentions of the parties.

Notice in the petition was issued on March 04. The plea sought a direction on the WFI to cease and desist from conducting the national trials as notified through its circulated issued on February 26.

Further direction was sought on the Union Government and WFI's Ad-Hoc Committee to make the wrestling federation compliant with the National Sports Development Code, 2011, and for conducting the national selection trials for all international events under the Court's supervision and monitoring.

It was the wrestlers' case that the Central Government had issued a circular on January 07 restraining WFI from carrying out any activity and that any championships or competitions organized by it will be treated as unsanctioned and unrecognized competitions.

The plea stated that as per the circular, only National Wrestling Championships for various age categories organized under the supervision of the lOA-appointed WFI's Ad-Hoc Committee will be treated as sanctioned and recognized championships for wrestling under the Sports Code.

The plea contended that under no circumstances can the wrestling federation be construed to be a “legal, fair and unbiased body” to conduct free and fair national trials for international sports events, including the Asian Championships and World Championships.

Counsel for Petitioners: Mr. Rahul Mehra, Sr. Adv. alongwith Mr. Siddharth Nayak, Mr. Chaitanya Gosain and Mr. Raghav Khanna, Advs

Counsel for Respondents: Mr. Jayant Mehta, Sr. Adv. along with Mr. Anil Soni, CGSC and Mr. Devvrat Yadav, Ms. Diva Saigal, Advs. for R-1/UOI; Mr. Dayan Krishnan, Sr. Adv. along with Mr. Hemant Phalpher, Mr. Sukrit Seth and Mr. Auritro Mukherjee, Advs. for R-2/WFI; Mr. Sagar Chaurasia and Mr. Vikas Singh, Advs. for R-3/IOA

Title: BAJRANGPUNIA & ORS. v. UNION OF INDIA & ORS.

Citation: 2024 LiveLaw (Del) 912

Click here to read order