The apex court reinforced the “One State, One Unit” policy, which is followed by the Indian Olympic Association. Under this rule, only one sports association per state can be officially affiliated with national bodies like Hockey India.
New Delhi – 26th May: The Supreme Court of India has refused to accept the Vidarbha Hockey Association’s (VHA) request for recognition as an associate member of both Hockey India (HI) and the Indian Olympic Association (IOA).
The Court made it clear that the rules only permit one official hockey body per state, and pointed out that Vidarbha Hockey Association had failed to follow the correct legal procedure after it was derecognised by the Maharashtra Hockey Association.
The bench of Justice Nitin Sambre and Justice Abhay Mantri observed that VHA did not file a rejoinder (a reply to the allegations made against them) during the earlier proceedings and therefore had procedurally defaulted.
The apex court reinforced the “One State, One Unit” policy, which is followed by the Indian Olympic Association. Under this rule, only one sports association per state can be officially affiliated with national bodies like Hockey India.
The Court stated that the rules were “clear” and that Vidarbha’s failure to challenge the Maharashtra Hockey Association’s decision in time further weakened its case.
The dispute over Vidarbha Hockey Association’s recognition dates back to a decision taken by the Nagpur Bench of the Bombay High Court last year. The High Court had upheld Hockey India’s decision to cancel VHA’s membership, which officially took effect from July 1, 2020.
The decision was taken in line with the IOA’s “One State, One Unit” rule to avoid conflicts between multiple associations claiming authority within the same state.
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In an interview with The Times of India last year, Hockey India’s legal counsel Shreerang Bhandarkar explained why VHA could not continue as a member of the national body.
“If Vidarbha were recognized as a separate state, the VHA could have sustained itself and continued as a member of the national federation,” he said.
Bhandarkar also pointed out that VHA did not actually control the district-level hockey associations, contrary to its claims.
“The VHA does not have control over the various district associations, as it claims.”
However, he assured that the districts under Vidarbha region would not be left without opportunities to participate in hockey at various levels.
“The VHA wouldn’t be left without recourse – individual districts would still be able to apply directly for membership with Hockey Maharashtra, allowing them to compete in state, national, and international hockey events.”
