On Wednesday, the High Court of Delhi directed the Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports to maintain status quo in respect to the decision to provisionally renew the annual recognition of 54 National Sports Federations (NSFs) till further orders.
A division bench of Justice Hima Kohli & Justice S Prasad said that the Sports Ministry tried to "overreach" the order of the Court while proceeding to take this decision even if it is provisional in nature, without first approaching the Court & seeking its consent.
On Feb 7, the Court had asked the Indian Olympics Association (IOA) & Sports Ministry to inform the Court in advance while seeking to take any decision in connection with the NSFs.
The Court noted in an application filed by the ministry & said, "It transpires that in the teeth of the order dated February 7, the sports ministry has on its own proceeded to provisionally renew the annual recognition in respect of 54 federations for the year 2020, till Sept 30."
"The ministry shall maintain status quo ante in respect of the said decision as well, till further orders," it observed.
However, the Court noted that it is refraining from imposing any costs on the sports ministry for the present after it sought to withdraw the decision taken.
The Court observed that "The sports ministry shall issue a fresh notice within two days intimating all the 54 NSFs concerned that its order giving provisional renewal till Sept 30, stands recalled. As & when a fresh application is moved by the sports ministry, the notice shall be placed on record".
The Court was hearing a PIL filed by Lawyer Rahul Mehra seeking a inquiry into the functioning of various sports bodies.
Mehra drew the attention of the court to the affidavit dated June 16 filed by the sports ministry wherein it has been stated that the ministry proposes to restore the suspension/withheld government recognition of three NSFs namely, Indian Golf Union (IGU), School Games Federation of India (SGFI) & the Rowing Federation of India (RFI).
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