IOA chief PT Usha recognises golf body headed by Harish Reddy

PTI, Dec 31, 2024, 6:46 PM IST

New Delhi: The Indian Olympic Association (IOA) has given recognition to the Indian Golf Union (IGU) led by Harish Kumar Reddy while declaring the other body, headed by Brijinder Singh, void.

A letter signed by IOA president PT Usha issued on Monday stated that the National Olympic Committee had “reviewed the facts” and “examined the procedural adherence” before recognising the body headed by Reddy.

Two AGMs were held on December 15 to elect the new IGU office-bearers — one at the India Habitat Centre (IHC) where Singh was re-elected president with retired Punjab and Haryana High Court judge, Rameshwar Malik, as the Returning Officer, and the other at the Olympic Bhawan, where Reddy was elected with Justice OP Garg (Retd) as the RO.

In its letter, the IOA stated the reasons for recognising the body headed by Reddy, saying the Returning Officer, Justice Garg, had never resigned as alleged by the previous set of IGU office-bearers.

“After a detailed study of the documents of two different AGM and elections held on the same dates at two different venues at New Delhi, it is concluded that the AGM and election conducted by the Returning Officer Justice OP Garg (Retd) is valid with many reasons and some of them are: “The Returning Officer, who was initially officially appointed had never resigned as alleged by the IGU and thus was the competed person to conduct the election as notified by IGU,” IOA said in the letter.

Justice Garg, a retired judge of the Allahabad High Court, was initially appointed the Returning Officer for the elections on December 15, following which he issued suspension orders to five “virtually non-existent” state associations on November 26.

Subsequently, in an e-mail on November 28 to governing council members, Singh cited “unavoidable circumstances” for the postponement of the December 15 AGM.

The decision followed Garg’s “resignation” as Returning Officer after a controversial reversal of his earlier order barring the five state associations from participating in the polls.

IOA chief Usha had sought an explanation from Singh for his “sudden” decision to postpone the elections and said strict action, including forming of an ad-hoc body to conduct the polls, could be taken if his response was found “unsatisfactory”.

Singh then appointed former Chief Justice of the Sikkim High Court, Permod Kohli, as the Returning Officer on December 3 to conduct the polls. But two days later, on December 5, Kohli resigned and Singh appointed Malik as the new RO.

The IOA letter further stated that the AGM and election held at the Olympic Bhawan had the “required quorum in accordance with the Article 22 of the IGU rules”.

“A total of 21 Member Units with 39 Representatives participated in the AGM and election held on 15.12.2024. The letter/report received contains all the documents including the attendance sheet duly signed by the attendees.

“After reviewing the facts and examining the procedural adherence, the IOA recognises the election results announced by Justice (Retd) OP Garg at the AGM at Olympic Bhawan was legitimate.

“The IOA recognises the elected Governing Council of the IGU with the below office-bearers, Harish Kumar Shetty (President), Basant Kumar Repswal (Secretary General), Manoj Joshi (Hony treasurer).”