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‘Politicians, former bureaucrats, former judges monopolising federations’
NEW DELHI: Disapproving the practice of politicians, retired bureaucrats and former judges monopolising sports federations for their vested interest, the Supreme Court on Tuesday said this must stop and former players should be given charge of administration for the betterment of sports.
A bench of Justices Surya Kant and N K Singh took strong exception to the mismanagement in the kabaddi administration resulting in Indian players being banned from participating in international events and sought suggestions from CBI for an effective domestic and international probe, with the assistance of the Interpol.
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The court passed the order after senior advocate Gopal Sankarnarayanan and lawyer Sravan Kumar alleged that “one Gehlot family from Jaipur” is monopolising the kabaddi administration for decades and is responsible for its mismanagement. The lawyers submitted that the International Kabaddi Federation (IKF), which is being managed by the family, had withdrawn its affiliation to the Kabaddi Federation of India (KFI) as a tool to take control of the sports body. IKF is headed by Vinod Kumar Tiwari, who is based in Kuwait, as per its website.
“We deprecate the practice of former bureaucrats, ex-judges and politicians acting as administrators of sports bodies. Those who are former sports persons should be given space in sports administration. That culture has to be established. But it cannot be done by one stroke of pen, and it will take time,” the bench said.
It said some measures are required to be taken “in order to infuse purity, fairness, autonomy and independence in the election process, particularly to oust such persons who have monopolized the federation for their vested interest”.
Solicitor general Tushar Mehta also submitted that the Tiwari-headed IKF had no authority to disaffiliate the Indian federation. The bench then asked him to explore the diplomatic channels for resolution of the conflict regarding recognition of sports associations, most urgently the KFI.
It also asked Mehta to speak to the CBI director and get his suggestions for an “investigation mechanism for an effective domestic and international probe, with the assistance of international agencies, such as the Interpol, into the affairs of the federation”.
