The conduct of Equestrian Federation of India’s Extraordinary General Meeting, scheduled for Sunday and postponed to Wednesday, August 20, has been stayed by the High Court of Delhi. But more than the restraining those seeking to hold the meeting, Justice Sachin Datta’s order of August 13 brings into focus the role of the Court-appointed Observed SY Quraishi.
“There appears no rationale in seeking to further confound the uneasy state of affairs in EFI by convening an Extraordinary General Meeting,” the Court held, pointing out that the Fact- Finding Committee, headed by Justice Najmi Waziri (retd.) is at work and the Court is seized of the issues raised in the petition. This starkly contrasts Dr. Quraishi’s recommendation for such a meeting.
It is significant that Justice Sachin Datta pointed out in his order that the Observer Dr. Quraishi’s lawyer had admitted that the Observer had not taken any proactive steps upon receiving the requisitions addressed to him. In fact, Justice Datta pointedly told Dr. Quraishi’s counsel Ishan Roy Chowdhury during the hearing on August 13 that he had not taken any proactive steps.
The Observer, who advised the Executive Committee to take the approval of the High Court before implementing its decision to suspend Col. Jaiveer Singh, does not seem to have offered similar advice for the clubs which mailed him requisitions for an Extraordinary General Meeting to be convened or to Col. Jaiveer Singh who convened the meeting.
When the Rajasthan Equestrian Association wrote to the Observer with a request to inform the High Court about a draft requisition in circulation, Dr. Quraishi advised it to approach the Court-appointed Fact Finding Committee with its concerns. The Rajasthan Association then asked him if the same suggestion had been given to Col. Jaiveer Singh when he convened the meeting.
On July 17, 2025, through only his third report in nearly six years, Dr. Quraishi told the Court that he considered it necessary for an EFI Extraordinary General Meeting to be held at the earliest to enable the Federation assist athletes and undertake the necessary administrative steps to ensure participation and logistical support for the international competitions.
It did not seem to occur to the Observer to recommend the convening of the Annual General Meeting rather push for an Extraordinary General Meeting to be held. After all, the last Annual General Meeting, for the year 2023, was held on August 18, 2024, and the meeting for 2024 has not been held and the meeting for 2025 is also becoming due.
One can only hazard a guess that some of EFI’s club members – whose status as voters in the EFI elections has been challenged in the High Court – were activated to send out requisitions in the wake of the Observer’s report last month. Now the Court has struck down the idea of the Extraordinary General Meeting recommended by the Observer in his report to the Court.
To be fair, the Observer pointed out in his report that India’s Equestrian athletes were confused by the different competition calendars in the two ‘official’ websites, one controlled by the Executive Committee and the other by Col. Jaiveer Singh.
The two competition calendars proffered by the Executive Committee and Col. Jaiveer Singh appear to have constrained the Observer to show concern for the Equestrian athletes again after more than four years. The last time he shared his concern for an athlete’s travails with the Federation was on February 9, 2021
Since then, many athletes moved the High Court against the selection criteria as the Observer did not take up their issues with the Federation brass or report them to the Court. On August 17, 2022, the Observer did submit a report in response to an order of the Court, but that focused on electoral matters.
In a bid to come across as balanced and not leaning towards one side of the other, Dr. Quraishi’s third report mentions that after its reinstatement, the EFI Executive Committee has not been effective in discharging its responsibilities. He also pointed out that the Executive Committee members have resorted to settling existing grudges against one another.
He pins the dispute in the Federation to the post of Acting President between Vice President (Technical) Col. Jagat Singh (retd.) and Vice President (Finance) Harish Khokhar. In the wake of Lt. Gen. Gopal R’s (retd.) resignation as President, Col. Jagat Singh was chosen by the Executive Committee while the General Body ‘approved’ Harish Khokhar’s nomination for the position.
Considering that this tug-of-war started in August 2024, it is strange that the Observer waited a year before he brought it to the Court’s notice. While he mentions emails around the April 11, 2025, meeting of the Executive Committee, he chose to not appraise the Court of what transpired a day earlier in his meeting with the members of the Executive Committee.
Curiously, in his third report, there is also no mention of the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports’ letter to EFI advising it that it would not correspond with Col. Jaiveer Singh since he had completed the maximum five years in office permitted by the Department of Training and Personnel.
What us happening in EFI is truly unfortunate. Political differences between two groups has ruined the future of the young equestrian athletes.
But this article’s language doesn’t seen to be written by an independent journalist but by a spokesperson of one of the groups.
Thank you, Sir, for taking the time to read the piece and to respond.
You are welcome to have your opinion about the writer, though you have not challenged the observations made in the piece.
Best regards.