Delhi High Court hands over management of Hockey India to 3-member Committee of Administrators

The Delhi High Court has appointed a three-member committee of administrators (CoA) to manage and run the affairs of Hockey India until a Management Committee is lawfully elected. .The CoA will include former Supreme Court judge, Justice Anil R Dave, former Chief Election Commissioner Dr SY Qureshi and former captain of the Indian Hockey team, Zafar Iqbal..A Division Bench of Justices Najmi Waziri and Swarana Kanta Sharma said that this committee will handle the matters till a Management Committee is elected under a constitution strictly in consonance with the Sports Code and the court's judgments. Pertinently, the Court also struck down the posts of ‘Life President’, ‘Life Member’ and ‘CEO of the Management Committee’ in Hockey India..The new constitution has to be adopted by the CoA within 20 weeks, the Court directed. The CoA was tasked with the preparation of electoral roll/college for the purpose of conducting the elections after which the affairs of Hockey India will be handed over to the democratically elected body..The Court also said posts like ‘Life President’, ‘Life Member’ and ‘CEO of the Management Committee’ are illegal and, therefore, all references to them in the Constitution/Memorandum of Hockey India will be removed. The CoA and the Central government were directed to ascertain the amount spent on individuals in those posts and initiate the process of recovery of the same. “In the absence of a Managing Committee, elected under a constitution strictly in consonance with the Sports Code and the court judgments, the interests of hockey, its development and the sentiments of the hockey-players, aspirants and enthusiasts should not suffer. Therefore, it would be in the public interest that its affairs be put in the hands of a Committee of Administrators (‘CoA’),” the Court’s order said. .The order was passed in a petition filed by former Olympian Aslam Sher Khan who represented India in the 1976 Summer Olympics and was also the member of the Indian hockey team that won the gold medal in 1975 Hockey World Cup.Khan had alleged that the management of Hockey India was not being run according to the rules and the guidelines laid-down by the government or the National Sports Development Code of India, 2011 (Sports Code)..The Court said that the Centre’s guidelines, Sports Code and the judgments of the courts collectively constitute the law on the subject and any variation in them, to the detriment of sports-person or sports administration, is not permissible.The Court further stated that the individuals who have exhausted their age or tenure in terms of the Sports Code automatically disqualify themselves from contesting for any executive posts. Merely because the constitution of a National Sports Federation (NSF) is not aligned with the Sports Code and the law, it will not be to the advantage of either the federation or its office bearers, the Court held. .The bench further stated that persons appointed to posts like ‘Life President’ or 'Life Member’ have enjoyed benefits of office and expenses have been incurred on them by the federation in breach of law and, therefore, they must be asked to return the expended amount.“Expenses incurred on such supernumerary, innovative and illegal posts need to be recovered and there has to be accountability. Details of the amounts expended on such persons will be furnished by Hockey India before the CoA. The latter too shall examine the records and seek refund of monies from the current Life President and the Life Members, as may be,” the judgment said. The non-recovery of money would render the individuals ‘ineligible’ for holding any post in the Management Committee of a NSF, the Court directed. It was further observed that revenues generated by a NSF is largely on account of recognition granted to it by the Government of India. "In the absence of such recognition, the Society/Association would have no legitimacy or occasion to seek or attract sponsorship for any tournament, sporting event, travel, accommodation, training and/or other administrative measures. The monies which are so generated by a NSF, are more in the nature of public trust and the same is to be utilized in the public interest i.e. promotion of the sport and representation of India in international tournaments,” it was stated. .The Court also took strong exception to the ‘brazen impertinence’ of Hockey India Life President Narinder Batra in getting himself appointed to the post. The High Court said that Batra knew fully well that the said post is illegal and, therefore, his conduct smacked of ‘brazen impertinence to the clear mandate of law’.“It was a less than honest but futile endeavour to institutionalize oneself in a body whose legitimacy itself is contingent upon conformity with the Sport Code and the law. What a paradox, to make oneself permanent in an entity whose tenure itself is impermanent.”The order added that the illegal post cannot be the stepping stone for any other position or benefit elsewhere, nationally (including the Indian Olympic Association) or international bodies and if Batra has so benefitted, such position should end right away..Advocates Vanshdeep Dalmia, Natasha Dalmia and Suchakshu Jain appeared for the petitioner.Senior Advocate Sachin Datta along with Central Government Standing Counsel (CGSC) Anil Soni, and advocates Neetu Devrani, Vinayak Sharma, Himanshu Goel and Devesh Dube appeared for the Union.Senior Advocate Rajiv Nayar, along with advocates Shyel Trehan, Bhagya K Yadav and Rohan Poddar appeared for other respondents..[Read Judgment]