Show cause notice issued to Dhindsa

A city court has issued a showcause notice to former Union Sports Minister Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa for allegedly representing himself as elected president of the Cycle Federation of India despite his term having expired, reports Sumit Saxena.

A city court has issued a showcause notice to former Union Sports Minister Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa for allegedly representing himself as elected president of the Cycle Federation of India (CFI) despite his term having expired.

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Acting on a petition filed by Dhindsa seeking restrain against newly-elected president Jaswinder Singh Sandhu from assuming presidential office of CFI, Additional District Judge Sangita Dhingra Sehgal said, Dhindsa has not been given any authority to deal with the affairs of CFI. The authority granted to him by the predecessor of this court stood withdrawn and restrained after the High Court order dated June 18, 2008.

Directing Dhindsa to appear before the court, the judge said, "The accused had flouted the orders passed by the predecessor of this court, by representing himself to be elected president of CFI." The court noted that Dhindsa, after expiry of his presidential term in January 2008, organised the 14th National Cycling Road Championship in Karnataka in October 2008, and also the 62nd Senior, 39th Junior & 25th Sub-Junior National Track Cycling Championship in early 2009 through the Chandigarh Amateur Cycling Association.

The defendant's counsel contended that Dhindsa lodged a false FIR against Sandhu stating that he had trespassed the CFI office located at Indira Gandhi Stadium, and as a consequence Sandhu at present cannot hold the office due to the ongoing investigations.

"Dhindsa took advantage by registering a false case, and organised various national events across the country in the absence of any governing president. He violated court orders restricting him to exercise his powers as president," said Anand Aggarwal, the defendant's counsel.

Dhindsa's counsel argued that the newly-elected body be restrained from interfering with the conduct of the management and business of the CFI by Dhindsa, who has been authorised by the previous management committee as a vacuum could not prevail, since Dhindsa had been re-elected president on May 15 2008 in Chandigarh.