Hockey India's claims meaningless, says Gill

KPS Gill, president of the court-reinstated Indian Hockey Federation (IHF), on Sunday trained his guns at Hockey India (HI) after the ad hoc body decided to go ahead with the election, and said whatever the HI does after the Delhi High Court order is "meaningless."

HI secretary general Narinder Batra, who on Saturday said that the court judgement would not in anyway affect HI's existence, reiterated his stand in a statement on Sunday that the IHF was disaffiliated by the International Hockey Federation (FIH) in 2000.

Gill, disagreeing with Batra, said the IHF was never disaffiliated by the international body.

"It is completely wrong. The IHF was never disaffiliated by the FIH, only its name was changed to Indian Hockey Confederation (IHC)," Gill said.

Asked about HI getting ready to hold the election, Gill said: "Whatever they do is meaningless because there is something called the law of the land and it applies to everyone."

"I am told that there are a number of court cases against HI across the country. They have also been de-recognised by the government."

"Let us see what steps they take. We will do whatever is required," Gill said when asked whether the IHF would take legal course if the HI went ahead with the election.

Batra had said on Saturday that decks have been cleared for HI election in June or early July and the election notice will be issued in four-five days.

He said the Delhi High Court's order to reinstate the IHF does not affect the functioning of the HI.

"IHF was disaffiliated by the FIH in 2000 and the IHC was formed consisting of both men and women units. This was necessary since the FIH had made it clear that if both units are not merged as per the IOC Charter, India would not be allowed to participate in international events," Batra said.

"The IHC was disaffiliated by the FIH in 2008 and the HI took over from the IHC in 2009. As of today it is only the HI which has the affiliation of the IOA, AHF and FIH.," Batra said.

"The court order has no bearing on HI status as it is recognised by the FIH after it disaffiliated the IHF," Batra added.

"The judgment deals with the fact that while suspending/ disaffiliating the IHF, the IOA and the sports ministry did not follow the course of natural justice. This issue can be best clarified by the IOA and the sports ministry as to how they plan to follow the course of natural justice again."

First Published: May 23, 2010 23:07 IST