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Wrestlers plea challenging WFI polls quashed
The court observed that their repeated non-appearance indicated a lack of interest in pursuing the matter.
New Delhi: The Delhi High Court has dismissed the petitions filed by wrestlers Bajrang Punia, Sakshi Malik, Vinesh Phogat, and Satyawart Kadian challenging the Wrestling Federation of India’s (WFI) December 2023 elections, in which Sanjay Kumar Singh, a close associate of Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, was elected as the federation’s new president.
A bench of justice Mini Pushkarna in her order dated November 27, released later, also dismissed a contempt petition filed by Kadian against Centre, WFI and WFI ad hoc committee’s inaction regarding August 16, 2024 order to restore the mandate of an ad-hoc committee appointed by the International Olympic Association (IOA) on December 27, 2023 to manage and control the affairs of the WFI.
The bench recorded that the petitioners were absent not only on that day but also on the previous two hearings. The court observed that their repeated non-appearance indicated a lack of interest in pursuing the matter.
“No one appears for the petitioners when the matters are called out. No one has been appearing for the petitioners even on the last two dates. Thus, the petitioners do not seem to be interested in prosecuting the present matters. Accordingly, the present petitions, along with the pending applications, are dismissed in default and for non-prosecution,” the court
The wrestlers, in their writ filed last year, had challenged the elections, asserting that the WFI elections were not conducted fairly and transparently.
On August 16, last year, the court in the wrestler’s petition had restored the Committee’s mandate saying that its dissolution was “unwarranted” and “incongruous”, till the continuation of WFI’s suspension by the union sports ministry.
In March this year, the Centre had revoked WFI’s suspension, in the larger interest of India sports and athletes and for ensuring stability in the administration of wrestling. In its five-page letter, the ministry had said that the “continued governance void”, which it said was not only affecting the training and competition exposure of the wrestlers but also India’s medal prospects in the 2026 Asian Games and 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.
