On Thursday, the Apex Court freed the sports ministry & the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) from the shackles of mandatory prior consent of the High Court Delhi before granting annual recognition to national sports federations.
The Central Govt had appealed against a series of orders passed by the High Court on a Public Interest Litigation filed by Lawyer Rahul Mehra seeking reforms in administration & functioning of national sports bodies, which has been pending since a decade.
The petitioner has been adding new issues to the plea from time to time.
Additional Solicitor General K M Natraj told a bench of Justice D Y Chandrachud and Justice K M Joseph, "The direction of the high court requiring its consent to be taken for any decision would virtually bring the entire process of recognising national sports federations at a standstill. This will also amount to an overreach of judicial powers in the executive realm."
Appearing for the hockey federation, advocate Shyel Trehan said the procedure envisaged by the HC would jeopardise participation of teams in national & international meets.
She said the plea has not been disposed of despite the lapse of ten years because whenever the case was listed, a new interim application was moved before the High Court.
While ordering that the sports ministry, as well as the IOA, wouldn't be required to take prior consent of the High Court for grant of annual recognition to national sports federations, the bench led by Justice Chandrachud disapproved of the long pendency of PILs & said as time passes, the issues gets broader & broader.
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