‘WFI decision not in sporting spirit’

THE HC BENCH HAD BEEN INFORMED THAT THE COMMITTEE HEADED BY NCP CHIEF SHARAD PAWAR WAS ELECTED IN 2019 FOR 5 YEARS AND ITS TENURE WAS TO END IN 2023

MUMBAI: The Bombay high court on Wednesday set aside the June 30 decision of the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) to dissolve the elected executive committee of Maharashtra State Wrestling Association (MSWA), led by Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar. The bench also held that the WFI decision was not taken in sporting spirit, was unreasonable and unenforceable and hence quashed and set aside subsequent elections held by ad-hoc committee of the MSWA on July 31.

The single-judge bench of justice Sandeep Shinde which had heard the petition filed by MSWA through advocates I K Tripathi and Tushar Pawar said, “I hold that the Resolution passed in the Meeting of the Executive Committee of WFI, on 30th June, 2022 to dissolve and to supersede the petitioner-Association, was unreasonable, illegal and unenforceable. In consequence thereof, the election held on 31st July, 2022 by the Ad-Hoc Committee of the Maharashtra State Wrestling Association, pursuant to notice dated 11th July, 2022 being illegal, it is quashed and set aside. In the result, the elected body of the petitionerAssociation, shall hold the office till its’ tenure comes to an end and shall carry on its day-to-day functions in accordance with its Constitution.”

Tripathi had submitted that the committee was controlled by Pawar for nearly four decades. However, in a June 30 meeting of the WFI’s national executive, the national body, headed by BJP MP from Uttar Pradesh Brijbhushan Sharan Singh, decided to dissolve the said committee, citing the state body’s failure to conduct certain tournaments. The MSWA said that such a decision was taken in an “arbitrary” manner and the state body’s control was handed over to Ramdas Tadas, BJP MP from the Wardha constituency.

The bench had been informed that the committee headed by Pawar was elected in 2019 for five years and its tenure was to end in 2023. The association had challenged a July 4 WFI communication through which the committee’s general secretary B S Landge was informed that their panel had been dissolved and an ad hoc committee had been appointed for the functioning of the association.