NRAI TO HOLD ELECTIONS AGAINST SPORTS MINISTRY’S WISHES
NEW DELHI: The National Rifle Association of India (NRAI) on Friday said it is going ahead with its polls in Mohali on Saturday, setting up a possible conflict with the Union sports ministry.
On Thursday, the sports ministry had issued a letter asking NRAI to “appoint a new returning officer and initiate a fresh election process to its governing body in a fair, objective and transparent manner by adhering to the provisions of National Sports Development Code.”
The ministry’s directive came after UP State Rifle Association chief Shyam Singh Yadav, who is standing against incumbent Raninder Singh for the president’s post, had moved Delhi High Court alleging that NRAI was in violation of various provisions of the Sports Code.
Yadav approached a double bench on Friday that referred the case back to a single judge who had originally set a date in December for the hearing. “The elections will go ahead. The court has not given a stay against the elections,” said NRAI secretary general DV Seetharama Rao.
“The sports ministry has clearly asked NRAI to initiate the election process again,” said Yadav, who is also a Member of Parliament. “It can lead the NRAI to de-recognition from the sports ministry because they are clearly in violation of the sports code,” Yadav added.
The main point of Yadav’s allegation is that Singh’s bid to be re-elected is in violation of the Sports Code because he has completed the limit of 12 years in the post. The code stipulates that office bearers of any recognized national sports federation may hold their post ‘for a maximum period of twelve years with or without break.’
NRAI contends that the Sports Code does not mention a term limit for the president’s chair and Singh has not completed 12 years yet. Singh took over the NRAI on December, 29, 2010, after the death of then president Digvijay Singh midway through his term. Singh was subsequently re-elected in 2013 and 2017.
However, the ministry in its letter on Thursday said Singh is “serving his third term as President of the NRAI from 20172021”. Yadav also objected to the appointment of the returning officer saying he has “close, personal and professional relations with a close relative of the present president.”