The Delhi High Court on Friday restored the mandate of the Indian Olympic Association's (IOA) ad committee to manage and run the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI). The Court has left it up to the IOA to reconstitute the ad hoc committee.
This was passed as an interim order by the court related to the plea of the renowned wrestlers Bajrang Punia, Vinesh Phogat and Sakshi Malik. It stated that IOA's decision to withdraw the committee for the WFI is not compatible with its obligations. The court has left the decision of reconstituting the committee up to the IOA.
The wrestlers, who protested against the then WFI chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, had knocked on the doors of the court earlier in 2024 to declare the elections to select office bearers as illegal. After Brij Bhushan stepped down from his post, his loyalist Sanjay Singh took his place after the elections on December 21, 2023.
The petitioners sought a stay on the operations of the WFI in its present form. They also wanted the WFI not to undertake any activity as a national federation for wrestling.
The WFI was suspended by the Centre on December 24, 2023, three days after the election results, for allegedly not following the provisions of its own constitution while making decisions. It also requested the IOA to constitute an ad-hoc committee to manage and control its affairs. The committee was formed but was dissolved in March 2024 after the world wrestling body UWW lifted the suspension on WFI in February.
The court had issued a notice to the central government, the WFI and the ad-hoc committee of the wrestling federation on the petition by the top wrestlers.
"The decision to dissolve the Adhoc Committee comes in light of the lifting of the ban on the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) by the United World Wrestling (UWW) and the successful completion of Selection Trials by the Adhoc Committee appointed by the IOA as per the directives of the Hon'ble High Court of Delhi," the IOA said in an order on March 10.
