Delhi High Court appoints Abhinav Bindra and MM Somaya to committee overseeing release of funds to sports federations

The Delhi High Court recently appointed Olympic gold medalist Abhinav Bindra and former field hockey player MM Somaya to the committee overseeing disbursement of funds to various sports federations..A division bench of Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma and Justice Subramonium Prasad also modified an order from June 2022 by which it had directed that the government money should not be spent on any National Sports Federation not in compliance of the sports code.The Court said that it is including sportspersons to the committee to ensure that they are also involved in the process of disbursement of funds so that the funds released by the government goes only towards betterment of sportsmen, their training and to ensure that a good team is sent to represent the country for the Asian Games.At present, the committee overseeing the disbursement of funds to the various sports federations consists of Secretary of Department of Sports, Director General of Sports Authority of India and the Joint Secretary of Department of Sports.“The Committee shall ensure that the money is spent only on the sportsmen, their training, etc. It is made clear that the Government money should be spent only on training and travel of sportsmen for their selection in Indian team, on arranging coaches for them and on other necessary equipments and services like on physiotherapists, trainers, etc. The Government money will not be spent on office bearers of the Sports Federations who are not concerned with the sports person,” the bench ordered..The Court passed the order while dealing with a petition by Senior Advocate Rahul Mehra challenging the government decisions from October 2020 renewing recognition of several sports federations even though they were allegedly not in compliance with the National Sports Development Code of India, 2011.In June 2022, the High Court had stayed all funding to the sports federations which were not complying with the Code..Senior Advocate Rahul Mehra appeared person. He was assisted by advocates Chaitanya Gosain and Anand Thumbayil.Additional Solicitor General Chetan Sharma, Senior Advocate R Balasubramanium, Central Government Standing Counsel Anil Soni, Vinayak Sharma, Amit Gupta, Vikramaditya appeared for the Union of India.Senior Advocate Kirti Uppal and advocates Aditya Vikram Singh and Riya appeared for the National Rifle Association of India.Dilip Kr Niranjan appeared for the Indian Olympic Association..[Read Order]