The Delhi High Court on Today (Aug 28) granted four more weeks to the Centre to respond to a petition by the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) challenging its suspension. The Centre had suspended the WFI on December 24, 2023, three days after it elected new office bearers, for allegedly not following the provisions of its own constitution while taking decisions.
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NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court granted the Centre an additional four weeks to respond to a petition filed by the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) challenging its suspension. The WFI was suspended by the Centre on December 24, 2023, just three days after it had elected new office bearers.
The suspension was imposed on the grounds that the WFI had allegedly failed to adhere to its own constitutional provisions when making decisions.
The Centre requested the four-week extension to file its response, citing that it was awaiting the high court’s decision on a separate petition filed by certain wrestlers challenging the previous year’s WFI elections. This petition first came up for hearing in April, but the Centre had not yet filed its response.
During the hearing, the counsel for the petitioner criticized the Centre for not adhering to the court’s earlier directives to submit the reply, arguing that the indefinite suspension was imposed without issuing a show cause notice, which violates the principles of natural justice. The petitioner’s counsel urged the court to issue an interim order given the circumstances.
However, Justice Sanjeev Narula declined to issue an interim order, stating that such an order could not be granted without the completion of the pleadings.
“There is no question of granting an interim order here. Without the pleadings, I can’t,”
-Justice Narula remarked.
The court acknowledged that significant time had passed without the pleadings being completed and noted that the Centre had committed to filing its reply within four weeks.
The court has scheduled the next hearing for October, directing the relevant authorities to bring the necessary records related to the case. The petition filed by the WFI contends that the Sports Ministry’s decision to suspend the federation violates both the WFI’s constitutional provisions and the National Sports Code, which requires the issuance of a show cause notice and adherence to the principles of natural justice.
The suspension of the WFI’s recognition by the Centre, which occurred three days after the election of new office bearers, led to the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) being asked to establish an ad-hoc committee to manage the federation’s affairs. However, in February, the United World Wrestling (UWW) lifted the suspension on the WFI, prompting the IOA to dissolve its ad-hoc committee on March 18.
On August 16, a single judge bench of the Delhi High Court restored the mandate of the IOA’s ad-hoc committee for the WFI following a plea by celebrated wrestlers Bajrang Punia, Vinesh Phogat, Sakshi Malik, and her husband Satyawart Kadian.
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