New Delhi, December 18
The Delhi High Court today sought the Center’s response on a petition filed by the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) against allowing the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) to reconstitute an ad hoc committee to run the affairs of the WFI. is A bench of Acting Chief Justice Vibhu Bakhru and Justice Tushar Rao Gadela gave the Union Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports three weeks time to file its reply on the petition and fixed the hearing on February 5, 2025.
The WFI has challenged the August 16 interim order of a single judge of the High Court, which said that the IOA’s decision to dissolve the ad-hoc panel was not in accordance with the Sports Ministry’s order that the December 2023 The WFI was suspended immediately after the elections.
The single judge said that until the suspension order is withdrawn, it is necessary for the ad hoc panel to manage the affairs of the federation. The order came on a petition by wrestlers Bajrang Punia, Vinesh Phogat, Sakshi Malik and her husband Satyavrat Kadian. As an interim relief, WFI’s appeal has sought a direction to stay the August 16 order pending the proceedings.
The wrestlers who protested at Jantar Mantri in 2023 demanding the arrest of former WFI chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh for the alleged sexual harassment of seven women wrestlers canceled the elections held in December 2023 for the elections of the office bearers of the federation. Karan and approached the High Court to declare them illegal. Brij Bhushan loyalist Sanjay Singh was elected as the new head of the WFI in the elections held on 21 December 2023. -News-Patiala