New Delhi: In yet another twist to the Indian Olympic Association's election, the chairman of the election committee, SY Quraishi resigned from the post which is likely to result in the postponement of the polls which was scheduled to be held on November 25.
Quraishi, a former chief election commissioner, resigned from the post saying his conscience did not allow him to continue after the apex sports body backtracked on its commitment.
The IOA had formed the three-member committee to oversee the three-time postponed elections but Quraishi's resignation has forced the sports body to find a replacement for him.
The process of Scrutiny of Nominations for the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) scheduled to be held here on Friday was postponed by the Returning Officer after Quraishi resigned.
Returning Officer Chief Justice V.K.Bali (Retd) has informed that scrutiny process will only start after the appointment of the new Chairman/Member of the election commission.
Dr. Quraishi in his resignation letter has said that he was quitting the Commission because of the breakdown of consensus. He wanted that IOA elections be held under Sports Code of the Government of India. IOA in the meanwhile has been opposing the Sports Code of the Government of India but had to include the provision of Sports Code in the IOA election because of the directive of the High Court of Delhi.
However the matter has got complicated with International Olympic Committee (IOC) stepping in and asserting that any election under the Sports Code of the Government of India will not be acceptable to them as it will violate the IOC charter.
“I have replied to the IOC communiqué last night in which I made it clear, IOA’s opposition to the Sports Code but stated that because of the High Court of Delhi directives this provision was included “ IOA acting president Vijay Kumar Malhotra said in a statement here this evening.
Prof. Malhotra said he will have consultation with other senior members of the IOA and will name the Chairman/ member of the Election commission at the earliest.
He said at all three- the Sports Code of the Government of India, High Court of Delhi directive and IOC communiqué – are at variance and has led to lot of different interpretations.
“We will have to go into the whole issue in detail and take a decision on this very important issue” Prof Malhotra added.
By Indian Sports News Network