NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court on Wednesday stayed the decision of the Union Sports Ministry to provisionally renew the annual recognition of 54 National Sports Federations (NSF) and directed it to “maintain status quo ante”.
In the course of the hearing, the Bench of Justices Hima Kohli and Najmi Waziri also shot down a proposal by the ministry to restore the suspension of recognition to three NSFs, namely, Indian Golf Union (IGU), School Games Federation of India (SGFI) and the Rowing Federation of India (RFI), PTI reports.
The Bench said the ministry tried to overreach the order of “this court while proceeding to take this decision even if it is provisional in nature, without first approaching the court and seeking its consent”, the High Court ruled.
The decision came under the scanner of the High Court as it had on February 7 directed the Indian Olympics Association (IOA) and Ministry of Youth and Sports Affairs (MYSA) to inform the Court in advance while seeking to take any decision in relation to the NSFs, PTI further reports.
The High Court was informed through an application of the ministry that it has proceeded to provisionally renew the annual recognition in respect of 54 NSFs for the year 2020, till September 30.
During the hearing, Central government standing counsel Anil Soni, representing the ministry, conceded that the February 7 order has not been complied with.
As he stated that the ministry may be permitted to withdraw the decision taken and he be permitted to withdraw the present application while reserving the right of the Ministry to file a fresh application, the Bench said “we are refraining from imposing any costs on the respondent No.1 (MYSA) for the present”.
“MYSA shall issue a fresh notice within two days intimating all the 54 NSFs concerned that its order giving provisional renewal till September 30, stands recalled. As and when a fresh application is moved by the ministry, the notice shall be placed on record,” the Bench ruled.
The newswire further reports that during the hearing, advocate and activist Rahul Mehra pointed out that the ministry’s June 16 affidavit has stated that the ministry proposes to restore the suspension of recognition three NSFs, namely, Indian Golf Union (IGU), School Games Federation of India (SGFI) and the Rowing Federation of India (RFI).
However, the government standing counsel argued this was only a proposal and no steps have been taken so far to restore the recognition of the three NSFs.
“The respondent no.1/ MYSA shall maintain status quo ante in respect of the said decision as well, till further orders,” the Bench ruled.
After the order was uploaded on the High Court website, PTI quotes Mehra as havimng tweeted: “Since sports is love of my life, I come back only to share this order passed by HC wherein it stayed decision taken by @IndiaSports of (a) provisionally granting annual recognition to 54 NSFs and (b) revoking suspension of Golf, School Games & Rowing Federations of India.”
The High Court was hearing a Public Interest Litigation filed by Mehra in 2010, which had initially sought a probe into the functioning of various sports bodies, including Hockey India and Indian Olympic Association.
