The Himachal Pradesh High Court has ruled in favor of allowing former union minister Anurag Thakur to file his nomination for the Boxing Federation of India (BFI) elections, overturning the BFI president Ajay Singh’s decision to reject Thakur’s nomination. Justice Ajay Mohan Goel ordered the BFI to extend the nomination deadline, ensuring Thakur can represent the Himachal Pradesh Boxing Association (HPBA) at the BFI’s annual general meeting.
The court’s decision follows a dispute wherein BFI president Ajay Singh, also the chairman and managing director of SpiceJet, had disqualified Thakur’s candidacy based on a March 7 notice. The notice declared Thakur ineligible as he was not an elected member of the HPBA, a prerequisite cited by Singh for candidacy in the BFI’s presidential election scheduled for March 28.
However, Justice Goel stated that the notice issued by Singh was unauthorized and without any legitimate power, emphasizing that the BFI’s president does not have the authority to unilaterally decide on matters concerning nominations and elections, which should be determined by the BFI’s general council.
This legal contention arose shortly after the Delhi High Court intervened in a similar matter, staying the same March 7 BFI circular that restricted representation in the elections to duly elected members of state units. The Delhi court allowed the election process to proceed as scheduled but challenged the restrictions imposed by the circular.
Senior Advocate Abhinav Mukerji, representing the HPBA, argued that Ajay Singh’s tenure as president had expired, rendering his decisions on election eligibility null and void. The Himachal Pradesh High Court agreed, noting that the BFI’s rules do not mandate that representatives of member associations must be elected officials of those associations.
The court’s scrutiny revealed that the BFI’s general council holds the authority to elect office bearers and other members every four years, without any stipulation in the rules that only elected state unit members can be nominated. Justice Goel highlighted that this interpretation of the rules aligns with the principles of fair representation and democratic governance within sports organizations.
