On Wednesday, the High Court of Jammu Kashmir and Ladakh instructed the Secretary of the J&K Sports Council to submit a detailed affidavit in response to a public interest litigation that claims violations of the mandatory provisions outlined in the Sports Code of India, 2011.<\/p>\n
A Division Bench comprising Chief Justice Arun Palli and Justice Rajnesh Oswal has tasked advocate Anshuja Tak with ensuring that the Secretary’s affidavit is presented before the next court session scheduled for April 21. This directive followed an appeal from Sheikh Shakeel Ahmed, supported by advocates Supriya Choudhan and M. Zulkarnain Chowdhary, who highlighted purported infringements of several provisions of the Sports Code, 2011 enacted by Parliament.<\/p>\n
Advocate Ahmed pointed out that the most recent elections for the J&K Badminton Association took place on March 6, 2022. He noted that the Divisional Sports Officer from Jammu, designated as an Observer by the Sports Council, filed a report on April 21, 2022, indicating significant irregularities, including the absence of a ballot box for voting and a lack of documentation regarding the age and tenure of officials, as well as certificates confirming non-affiliation with other associations or political entities. Additionally, no-objection certificates from relevant departments were not provided to validate the election process, and it was revealed that some elected officials were active members of political parties.<\/p>\n
Despite the Observer’s findings, the Sports Council Secretary did not take any action against the officials who were found to be disqualified under the Sports Code, as stated by Ahmed.<\/p>\n
In response to a court notice regarding the PIL dated September 8 of the previous year, Chander Prakash Sharma (Ganga) and B S Jamwal, the president and general secretary of the Badminton Association, resigned, acknowledging their non-compliance with the age restrictions stipulated by the Sports Code, as both were over 70 years old. Ahmed noted that Ganga is a former cabinet minister and currently serves as a BJP MLA from Vijaypur, and their resignations were accepted by the executive committee during a meeting on November 9.<\/p>\n
Ahmed also accused a specific faction of having \u201chijacked\u201d the Badminton Association in Jammu and Kashmir, while referencing an affidavit from its chairman, Dr. O D Sharma, who is 80 years old. He further mentioned that the vice-chairman, Dr. Satish Chander, had also exceeded the age limit.<\/p>\n
Reacting to these allegations, the Division Bench, led by Chief Justice Arun Palli, voiced significant concern in court regarding the apparent violations and failure to comply with the Sports Code, 2011, by the J&K Badminton Association, as well as the lack of action from the Sports Council.<\/p>\n
Ahmed continued by stating that the newly appointed general secretary, Raju Sharma, is a government employee. However, according to the Sports Code, 2011, along with SRO 164 of 1980 and a circular issued on February 10, no government employee is permitted to hold or maintain a position within any sports association in Jammu and Kashmir or a national sports federation without prior government authorization.<\/p>\n
He added that Rahul Sharma, an Assistant General Manager at RBI in Guwahati, was elected as joint secretary in contravention of SRO 164 of 1980.<\/p>\n
Advocate Anshuja Tak, representing the Sports Council, asserted that the Council is dedicated to enforcing the Sports Code, 2011, and has facilitated or overseen elections for 34 sports associations in Jammu and Kashmir in accordance with these regulations. She confirmed that the concerns raised would be addressed through a thorough affidavit to be submitted by the Secretary of the J&K Sports Council.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
On Wednesday, the High Court of Jammu Kashmir and Ladakh instructed the Secretary of the J&K Sports Council to submit a detailed affidavit in response to a public interest litigation that claims violations of the mandatory provisions outlined in the Sports Code of India, 2011. A Division Bench comprising Chief Justice Arun Palli and Justice […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":5552,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[40,622],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5553","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-india","category-in-india"],"yoast_head":"\n