SC orders status quo, says Delhi HC-appointed CoA will not take charge of IOA

The Supreme Court on Thursday ordered status quo, stalling the Indian Olympic Association’s (IOA) takeover by a three-member Committee of Administrators (CoA), headed by former top court judge AR Dave, as directed by Delhi High Court on Wednesday.

On being told that the CoA has not yet taken charge of the national sports body, a Bench of Chief Justice NV Ramana and Justices Hima Kohli and CT Ravikumar passed the order in the case it decided in the morning to hear after finishing other matters on the board. The court has fixed a detailed hearing on Monday.

An interim stay order came after the top court was told by Solicitor General Tushar Mehta that the CoA set up to run day-to-day affairs of IOA is seen as an “outsider” by the International Olympic Association (IOC) and other world sports bodies.

Mehta claimed that CoA managing the IOA affairs will not only lead to India being ejected from participating in the Olympics, but will be barred from participating in any overseas sporting events, as happened with the All India Football Federation (AIFF) last week. The IOA is a member of the IOC.

The court was informed that the country will be holding the 38th national sports meet at Gujarat next month and the appointment of CoA will reflect poorly on it.

The Delhi High Court on August 16 had ordered the setting up of a three-member CoA to manage the affairs of the IOA, holding that the persistent recalcitrance of the latter to comply with the sports code made it imperative that its affairs be put in the hands of the COA comprising former Supreme Court judge Justice AR Dave, former Chief Election Commissioner SY Quraishi, and former Secretary of Ministry of External Affairs Vikas Swarup.