In a move that some will interpret as a tacit admission of its failures to maintain its own record, the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports has invited 57 National Sports Federations to provide information so that it can respond to petitioner Rahul Mehra’s contention that none of them is completely compliant with the National Sports Development Code of India 2011.
The letter reached NSFs barely hours after it was rebuffed by the Delhi High Court where it had argued strongly that it had the exclusive right to recognise or unrecognise NSFs. It had an urgent application seeking a modification of the Court’s February 7 order that directed the Ministry and the Indian Olympic Association to inform the Court in advance when making a decision on NSFs.
“In order to enable the Ministry to file an affidavit stating its position before Hon’ble Delhi High Court before the next date of hearing (August 21), each NSF is requested to give reply/information in respect of compliance/status to the issues raised by Mr. Rahul Mehra regarding non-compliance of various provisions of the Sports Code by the NSFs,” the Ministry wrote.
Besides, seeking a copy of the constitution and other documents, the Ministry has asked NSFs to comment or share information in respect of compliance and status on the issues raised by the petitioner. It wanted NSFs to quote the relevant provision of their respective constitutions along with clause number and page number and any other such relevant documents.
Curiously, as the Ministry had decided to grant recognition to 54 NSFs on May 3 and 3 NSFs on June 16, it has to be assumed that it believed that, in its view, they were all Code-compliant. Then again, it may be difficult to expect 100 per cent compliance of each of the 25 criteria listed. The Ministry will be hard-pressed to explain these.
The Ministry’s arbitrary decision to relax crucial norms around electoral college in the case of Equestrian Federation of India, Yachting Association of India, Indian Golf Union, School Games Federation of India and Fencing Association of India at a time when it did not hesitate to delist Rowing Federation of India and Paralympic Committee of India has come to haunt it now.
This move to seek information from 57 NSFs could also mean that the Ministry will take time to possibly move the Supreme Court against the Delhi High Court decision to turn down its request. It is an option that the Ministry will have to consider but it will also prepare itself with a response to Rahul Mehra’s submission that none of the 57 NSFs were Code-compliant.
The report first appeared in Mail Today on August 9, 2020
