NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court has appointed former Supreme Court judge Justice Arjan Kumar Sikri as an administrator to oversee the utilization of funds for the upcoming International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) World Cup scheduled to be held in India in March.
The decision of the division bench of Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma and Justice Subramonium Prasad was following an application by the National Rifle Association of India (NRAI) on the fund restriction from the Centre as per earlier high court order in relation to the Sports Code Conduct violations.
After the hearing, The court found a ‘fair solution’ given by petitioner-in-person Adv Rahul Mehra that a committee comprising of a retired Judge of this Court and Abhinav Bindra, the first Olympic Gold Medal winner in Shooting, must be constituted to oversee the World Cup event in March 2023.
He stated that the funds which are proposed to be released must be passed through the Committee and the Committee must furnish its Report in a sealed cover before the Court upon the conclusion of the World Cup event.
The court noted that the prestige of the country would be affected if there is any impediment in organizing the World Cup event which would require funding from the Central Government.
NRAI stated that India is hosting World Cup for the shooting sport in March 2023 and the stoppage of funds would affect the hosting of the World Cup.
The rifle body was seeking modification of the order that limited monies by the Centre to any national sports federation which are not complying with the Sports Code as well as the orders of the Supreme Court and High Court.
The NRAI’s plea contended that the stay is affecting the smooth functioning of the National Sports Federations as the entire working capital has come to a standstill.
The applicant is dependent on the Government for the conduct of international events in India and various activities including training of the shooters and their participation in the international events, it was stated.
During the hearing, objecting to the application, Mehra said that the applicant should not have come to the court at the last minute. He further stated that granting any latitude to the applicant would result in further applications being filed before this Court by other Sports Federations which are in complete violation of the Sports Code. He stated that the present petition is not adversarial in nature and has been filed only keeping in mind the interests of sports in the country. NRAI is also in violation of various Clauses of the Sports Code, he added.
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