Himachal Pradesh High Court seeks response of Cycling Federation of India on plea against State units

The Himachal Pradesh High Court recently sought Cycling Federation of India (CFI)’s response to a petition challenging the recognition granted by it to the State units - Himachal Pradesh Cycling Association (HPCA) and HIM Cycling Association (HCA) [Cycling Association of HP vs. State of H.P. and others]. .Justice Sandeep Sharma also issued notice to the Himachal Pradesh government and the Union Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports on the petition moved by Cycling Association of Himachal Pradesh, which is seeking CFI's recognition in place of the existing associations for the sport of cycling in Himachal Pradesh. The Court also directed that the State selection trials scheduled on Sunday be held under the direct supervision of the CFI with the presence of an official of the Central government.“Further to eliminate the element of bias, some official from Ministry of sports, Government of India, is also directed to remain present,” ordered the Court.The Cycling Association of Himachal Pradesh (petitioner) in its petition has sought strict compliance with the Sports Code 2011 in the State across all sporting bodies. Challenging CFI’s decision to not recognize it, the petitioner submitted that seven of 12 district cycle associations in Himachal are affiliated with it.Despite this, the petitioner alleged, the CFI was continuing to maintain the affiliation of the HPCA and HCA without them satisfying the requirement of having at least 50 percent district cycling units affiliated to them.The petition also stated that HPCA could never have been granted recognition as a State-unit level in terms of Sports Code because its jurisdiction was restricted to a sub-divisional level and it was never registered on a State-level.It further said that there was no record of HCA having ever applied for affiliation, and argued that there is no concept of automatic membership of CFI under its constitution. The Court will hear the matter next on March 27.Advocates Satyajit Sarna, Digvijay Singh Thakur, Abhinav Purohit appeared for the petitioner. Additional Advocates General Rajan Kahol, Vishal Panwar and BC Verma and Deputy Advocate General Menka Raj Chauhan appeared for the State. Central government counsel Rajinder Thakur represented the Union government while other respondents were represented by Senior Advocate Ankush Dass Sood and advocate Ankit Dhiman. [Read Order]