Sports Ministry declares SGFI elections null and void for not getting President Sushil Kumar’s approval
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Sushil Kumar
The Sports Ministry ruled in favor of wrestler Sushil Kumar with regard to an issue that arose with regard to the conduct of the School Games Federation of India (SGFI) elections. The elections held in Nagapattinam, Tamil Nadu on December 29 last year were declared to be null and void and the ministry has called for a re-election to be conducted in accordance with the National Sports Development Code of India (NSDCI).
The issue with regard to the same was that the elections were conducted without approval from the SGFI President Sushil Kumar. The secretary general, Rajesh Mishra had allegedly conducted the elections in an arbitrary manner by appointing a returning officer without getting Sushil’s consent. This had led to Sushil taking up the issue to the ministry and filing an FIR for forgery against him.
NSDCI prescribes that ROs must be appointed by the President of SGFI
According to the election guidelines prescribed in the NSDCI, ROs can be appointed only by the President of the concerned federation and the President of the SGFI is Sushil so he must have been the one appointing the RO and not Mishra, the secretary general.
The Sports Ministry informed the SGFI of their decision through a letter written by deputy secretary SPS Tomar saying, “I am directed to refer to the School Games Federation of India’s (SGFI) letter dated 31.12.2020 and to say that the elections held on 29.12.2020 at Nagapattinam, Tamil Nadu are in violation of the provisions of model election guidelines prescribed in National Sports Development Code of India (NSDCI) 2011 which authorises president of the concerned federation to appoint returning officer. It is stated that the entire process of election starting from appointment of returning officer without approval of president, SGFI, was in violation of the NSDCI 2011. You are therefore requested to conduct re-election as per the provisions of model election guidelines prescribed in NSDCI 2011.”
Sushil responded to the decision saying, “This is certainly a positive development and I express my sincere thanks to the ministry for issuing directions to conduct the re-election process in a fair and transparent manner as per the provisions laid down in the NSDCI 2011.”
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