IGU meet for amending rules termed ‘illegal’

EGM convened by the Indian Golf Union (IGU) here on June 6 to amend its constitution, as demanded by the Sports Ministry, has been termed illegal by members of IGU’s core group. A series of emails have come to light which highlight the differences within the decision-making body of the now-derecognised national sports federation.

After repeated reminders, the Sports Ministry had derecognised IGU in April for failure to hold elections and non-compliance with the National Sports Code. Following this, a Council meeting here on April 23 decided to hold the EGM in June without specifying the venue. On May 4, a notice from the honorary secretary, Lt Gen AKS Chandele (retd), to Council members called for the EGM on June 6 at the RSJ Hall, HQ Delhi Area (Cantonment) at 11am. This hasn’t gone down well with Council members.

At the forefront of challenging the move is Anirudha Seolekar, the immediate past president. On May 12, he wrote, “IGU rules say the EGM can be convened only by the Council. We have not seen any minutes of the (Council) meeting where such a decision has been taken. Please circulate minutes of the meeting and get them approved before issuing any notice. The secretary has no authority to take action without the approval of the Council. Both the president (Wg Cdr Satish Aparajit (retd)) and secretary are in the habit of defying decisions of Council and have caused serious damage to IGU by their actions.”

Holding the EGM in a restricted area like the Cantonment is another contentious issue. While Seolekar has attributed the choice of venue to “allow the Army to control IGU after the current votes to Army Zone are removed under the one state, one vote clause (of the Sports Code), Council member, Ranjit Chaudhri, referred to clause 19 of IGU rules to highlight the violation.

“All meetings shall be held at the office of the Union unless the Council shall otherwise determine…Holding a meeting in any other venue would not be considered an EGM,” wrote Chaudhri.

In support, Council member Satbinder Singh wrote: “It is ok to hold Council meetings in a restricted area, however, general body meeting must be in an open venue accessible to all…The (EGM) notice should have gone after approval of the minutes by circulation, otherwise its legal status is questionable.”

IGU president Aparajit wasn’t available for comment as he’s recuperating from surgery.