Priyanka Singh
Published on: September 23, 2022 at 20:26 IST
The Supreme Court, on Thursday, appointed former Judge L Nageswara Rao to amend the constitution of the Indian Olympic Association. This has come following the appeal filed against the order of the Delhi High Court, which directed the transfer of responsibility of the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) to a Committee of Administrators (CoA) in the 2010 case.
The name of the Judge was sought by the Solicitor General of India, Tushar Mehta, in the last hearing of the appeal.
The former Judge shall amend the body’s constitution, preparation of electoral rolls and the conduction of the elections to its executive body.
“The Ld. Judge would be at liberty to fix his fees in consultation with the IOA. The amendments to the Constitution may be placed before this court. Simultaneously, the preparation of the electoral college and election schedule can also proceed to take place.”
The Apex Court ordered that the logistical support would be provided to the Rao by the Joint Secretary and the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports; they would be reimbursed by the IOA, along with a deposit to the Ministry of Rs.5 Lakhs within a week.
The bench comprising of Justice D.Y. Chandrachud and Justice Hima Kohli assigned the day-to-day administration of the IOA to its Secretary General, Rajeev Mehta, stating that, “That the National Games are to be conducted by IOA between 29th Sept, 2022 and 12th Oct, 2022, after a gap of 7 years in multiple cities in Gujarat…”
“The Court has been apprised that the MoUs have been executed…preparation done by IOA..committees are made and Secy General is responsible for the day-to-day administration.”
“Having regard to the impending National Games, we direct that the administration of the IOA, till the elections are held, to be conducted by the Secy General of IOA.”
Nonetheless, Senior Advocate Dr. Menaka Guruswamy contended that there is a lack of confidence by the Secretary General in the executive body. Considering the contention, Bench made the entrustment effective ‘till further orders”.
ASG Mr. K.M Nataraj briefed the Bench about the joint meeting organized by IOC on September 27th at Lausanne.
He submitted that the representatives are to join the meeting corporally, to which Senior Advocate Rahul Mehra (original petitioner before the Delhi HC) informed the Bench further that the representatives set to attend the meeting happen to be the office-bearers whose appointment has been disputed in the current case.
Following a brief dialogue between the counsels, it was decided that representatives of the IOA, Rajeev Mehta (Secretary General, IOA) and Adille Sunmariwalla (VP, IOA) would be attending the meeting to be held at Lausanne.
It was directed by the Bench that the Joint Secretary, Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports to represent the Union Government at the meeting and submit a report before the Court about the progress made in the concerned meeting.