During the hearing, the Supreme Court removed the ban on the election of the wrestling association. Now the wrestling union elections can be held soon and the matter related to the movement of wrestlers can be resolved.
Wrestling Federation of India elections ban ends, Supreme Court overturns Gauhati High Court’s decision
Wrestlers’ dispute can be resolved after the election of Wrestling Federation –
The way has been cleared for the election of the Wrestling Federation of India. The Supreme Court has lifted the ban on the elections of the Wrestling Federation of India. During the hearing on Tuesday, the Supreme Court of the country overturned the decision of the Gauhati High Court. The Supreme Court vacated the Gauhati High Court’s order banning the election of the wrestling association. Issuing notice on the petition, a bench of Justices Aniruddha Bose and S Venkatanarayana Bhatti stayed the Gauhati High Court order.
The top court was hearing a plea by the Andhra Pradesh Amateur Wrestling Association challenging the interim order of the Gauhati High Court staying the WFI elections. During this hearing, the apex court ended the stay on the election. This has cleared the way for the election of the wrestling association and the selection of the new president. The dispute of the wrestlers can also be resolved after the selection of the new president. The country’s top wrestlers have been protesting against the outgoing president of the wrestling association, Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, since the month of January this year.
There are also allegations of sexual exploitation of many wrestlers on Brijbhushan. The investigation in this matter is not over. However, the minor wrestler who accused him of sexual harassment has withdrawn her complaint.?
The elections of the Wrestling Federation of India were to be held this year, but due to several controversies, they kept getting delayed. The country’s top wrestlers made several serious allegations, including sexual harassment, against Wrestling Association President Brij Bhushan Singh. Thereafter, he was sidelined from the affairs of the association and an ad-hoc committee of the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) was given the responsibility of overseeing the affairs of the association and conducting elections. The ad-hoc committee fixed July 6 as the date for the election, but it was later extended by five days. Finally, the date of the election was fixed for July 11.
Meanwhile, the Gauhati High Court stayed the election while hearing the demand of the Assam Wrestling Association. The Assam Wrestling Association filed a petition against the WFI, the ad-hoc committee of the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) and the Sports Ministry, stating that they are entitled to be recognized as members by the WFI, but the WFI meeting on 15 November 2014 in Gonda, Uttar Pradesh This was not done despite the recommendation of the then Executive Committee to the General Council.
Why were the elections postponed till July 11?
Earlier, five unaffiliated state bodies presented their case in the hearing seeking voting rights for the elections. For this reason the ad hoc committee had to take this decision. On Wednesday, the three-member committee was approached by unaffiliated state bodies in Maharashtra, Haryana, Telangana, Rajasthan and Himachal Pradesh. Retired High Court Justice MM Kumar is included in this committee. The committee had called these units for hearing.
According to a source, “The state units presented their case while the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) representatives defended their decision to disaffiliate these bodies. The panel needs time to decide and prepare orders, Hence the elections were postponed till July 11.”
Two separate disputes became trouble
Top wrestlers of the country are demanding punishment for Brij Bhushan Singh and are demanding the selection of a new president. Brij Bhushan’s tenure is over and the ad-hoc committee is set to hold elections as demanded by the wrestlers, but five unrelated state bodies are creating trouble. Wrestling associations of other states including Assam want their equal participation in the elections. This is the reason why the matter is continuously in the court and the election is getting delayed.
