The Equestrian fraternity is awaiting the verdict of a High Court of Delhi Division Bench that may have a consequence not just on the selection of the Dressage team for the Aichi-Nagoya 2026 Asian Games but also on the functioning of the Ad Hoc Committee running the Equestrian Federation of India.
The Division Bench comprising Chief Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya and Justice Tejas Karia reserved judgement on Friday after marathon hearings over three days on appeals by riders Anush Agarwalla and Sudipti Hajela against a judgement of the single bench of the High Court ruling in the Federation’s favour.
Chief Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya and Justice Tejas Karia first sought to find an amicable solution and asked the Union of India (Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports) to come up with an implementable suggestion. But with the EFI Ad Hoc Committee insisting that it had done no wrong, the Court decided to hear the case on merit.
The Court went to the extent of requesting the counsel of the EFI Ad Hoc Committee to accept a solution proposed by the Ministry to constitute a new committee to oversee the selection of the Dressage team. However, the Ad Hoc Committee was steadfast in wanting the case to be heard on merit.
Interestingly, a couple of days after counsel Kapil Modi admitted that the selection committee and the Ad Hoc Committee had not recorded a reason to not conduct a trials to select the final team from among six probables, counsel Tanmay Mehta sought to explain it by arguing that the selection criteria also provided for scores to decide the final team.
Question on Ad Hoc Committee’s standing
At one point on Thursday, the Chief Justice even asked the counsel for the Ad Hoc Committee to show the legal authority or strength on which it was continuing despite the lapse of three months from the date of its appointment. It noted that neither the Court nor the Indian Olympic Association had officially extended its tenure.
EFI counsel Kapil Modi sought to explain that by saying the IOA had submitted a proposed roadmap for the conduct of the elections to the EFI Executive Committee, but the Bench observed the absence of a specific order extending the tenure of the Ad Hoc Committee and said that submitting a road map does not equal a Court-granted extension.
Eventually, on Friday, Chief Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya advised the Indian Olympic Association to exercise its authority on the EFI Ad Hoc Committee to ensure that its functions properly. “They were they were they were given a time of three months; they have not been able to get their elections conducted,” he said.
“After all it is a society registered under the Societies Registration Act. Apart from the being a National Sports Federation, it’s a society. It has to function democratically; it is your duty to ensure that it functions democratically. Why should the Court interfere in such matters?” he asked, indicating that his question on the legality of the Ad Hoc Committee remained.
Rajasthan EA file Contempt Petition against Ad Hoc Committee
Meanwhile, the Rajasthan Equestrian Association has filed a Contempt Petition before the High Court of Delhi, alleging that the Ad Hoc Committee had failed to comply with the timelines fixed by the High Court. In its Judgement on February 17, the Court had directed IOA to form an Ad Hoc Committee to govern EFI and had given it three months’ time to conduct elections.
The Indian Olympic Association appointed the Ad Hoc Committee on March 28 and on June 19, the Ad Hoc Committee circulated a Draft Constitution inviting public comments. The Rajasthan Equestrian Association Senior Counsel Rajiv Dutta said this was contrary to the directions issued by the Court.
The Contempt Petition is listed for November 19.
Image created with Google Gemini
