The Delhi High Court on Friday directed the administrator of the Amateur Kabaddi Federation of India (AKFI) to hold the sports body’s elections within three months.
The court said the elections should be notified in accordance with its directions including the ‘age and tenure restriction’ on the members of the governing body, emphasising that the National Sports Code applies not just to the parent body but also to all of AKFI’s affiliated units at the state and district levels.
The high court said since the AKFI continues to be under the control of the administrator and elections of the executive committee of AKFI have to be held, a batch of five petitions concerning the implementation of the sports code to AKFI are disposed of in these terms.
It said if the state and district associations want to continue to be members of AKFI, they have to amend their memorandum of associations/constitutions and bring them in conformity with the sports code particularly in respect of the age and tenure restrictions.
“If the representatives of the state associations to the national federation and the representatives of the district associations/ bodies to the state association are not compliant of the ‘age and tenure restriction’ imposed by the Sports Code, then they shall not constitute the electoral college and shall be disqualified from contesting for any post of the executive committee and also from casting their vote for such an election,” Justice Sanjeev Sachdeva said in a 32-page judgement.
The high court said the state associations and the district associations, after the expiry of the term of the existing executive committee, shall hold fresh elections strictly in accordance with the ‘age and tenure restriction’ imposed by the sports code.
It quashed the election notification of August 7, 2019, for elections to AKFI and the notification of the electoral college of AKFI issued by the administrator.
“The administrator shall prepare and notify the schedule for the holding of the elections of the office bearers of AKFI in accordance with these directions, which should not be later than 3 months from the date of this order.
“The President and Secretary of the affiliated member unit should attend the General Body Meeting of AKFI, however, if the President and Secretary of an affiliated member unit are unable to attend or are not compliant of the ‘age and tenure restriction’ imposed by the Sports Code, they may nominate, in accordance with the constitution of AKFI, a person who is compliant. If there is a dispute on the nomination, then the nomination by the President shall prevail,” the high court said.
“What could be a more glaring example of misuse of position than that in the case of AKFI where one individual, who was elected as its president in 1984 continued as its president till May 19, 2013, without a single election and on his presidency coming to an end, it devolved upon his wife who was not only a complete stranger to all the member Units of the AKFI, but was a practising gynaecologist,” the court said.
The sports body was put under the administrator following a 2018 order of the high court which had come on a petition alleging that AKFI was not being run in a democratic manner and was confined to one family only.
