Delhi HC seeks Centre’s stand on Punia, Phogat’s plea over WFI administration

PTI, Nov 13, 2024, 6:05 PM IST

The Delhi High Court on Wednesday sought the stand of the Centre and the WFI on a plea by celebrated wrestlers Bajrang Punia, Vinesh Phogat, Sakshi Malik and her husband Satyawart Kadian pressing that affairs of the federation be taken over by an IOA-ad hoc committee or a retired Supreme Court or High Court judge.

Justice Prateek Jalan issued notice on the application by celebrated wrestlers Bajrang Punia, Vinesh Phogat, Sakshi Malik and her husband Satyawart Kadian which sought to restrain the present management of the WFI from taking any steps towards holding any selection trials.

The court asked the Centre and the WFI to file in two weeks their response to the application, which forms part of the wrestlers’ petition against the elections held in federation, and listed the matter for hearing on December 12.

The senior counsel appearing for the petitioners said the WFI was being run by a “proxy” president and selection trials were being held at the cost of the wrestlers and in violation of the court’s ruling on the issue of IOA-ad hoc committee taking over the federation.

The petitioners were at the forefront of last year’s protest at the Jantar Mantar here demanding the arrest of outgoing WFI chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh for alleged sexual harassment of seven women grapplers.

Sanjay Singh, a Brij Bhushan loyalist, was elected the new WFI chief in the polls held on December 21, 2023.

The Centre had suspended the WFI on December 24, 2023, three days after it elected the new office bearers, for allegedly not following the provisions of its own constitution while taking decisions and requested the IOA to constitute an ad hoc committee to manage and control its affairs.

In February, UWW lifted the suspension, leading to the IOA also dissolving its ad hoc committee on March 18.

The high court, however, ruled on August 16 that until the suspension order of the Centre is not recalled, it was necessary for the ad hoc committee to manage the federation’s affairs.

In the instant application, the petitioners alleged that the authorities, in flagrant disobedience, failed to comply with the order by not setting up the ad hoc committee to govern the affairs of the WFI till date.

It also said the the selection trials called by the federation for the 2024 Senior World Wrestling Championship was not as per the law and prejudiced the rights of the athletes.

“The deliberate non-compliance by the Respondent No.3/Ad-Hoc Committee – WFI through IOA has led to further illegal actions by the Respondent No.2/WFI, which continues to operate without oversight. Most notably, the Respondent No.2/WFI issued a circular dated 24.09.2024 for the conduct of selection trials for the upcoming 2024 Senior World Wrestling Championship,” the application said.

“This act of conducting selection trials, in violation of the Hon’ble Court’s explicit directions that the ad-hoc committee should manage such affairs and the Respondent No.2/WFI should abstain from managing the affairs of the Respondent No.2/WFI, is not only illegal but also prejudices the rights of all Indian wrestlers who are entitled to a free, fair and transparent selection process in national interest,” it further said.