NEW DELHI: The sports ministry on Friday declared the School Games Federation of India‘s (SGFI) elections null and void, held in Nagapattinam town of Tamil Nadu on December 29, 2020 without the approval of SGFI‘s president, two-time Olympic medallist Sushil Kumar.
The Ministry has directed the federation to conduct re-election as per the provisions of the National Sports Development Code of India (NSDCI) 2011. SGFI’s secretary general, Rajesh Mishra, had arbitrarily conducted the elections by appointing a returning officer (RO) of his choice without obtaining the consent of Sushil.
As per the model election guidelines prescribed in the NSDCI, the power to appoint a RO vests with the president of the concerned federation, which is Sushil in this case. It’s the same Mishra, who had previously been accused by the London Olympics silver medallist wrestler of allegedly forging his signatures to change the bye-laws of the federation without his knowledge.
In a letter issued Friday evening, SPS Tomar, deputy secretary in the ministry informed the SGFI: “I am directed to refer to the School Games Federation of India’s (SGFI) letter dated 31.12.2020 and to say that the elections held on 29.12.2020 at Nagapattinam, Tamil Nadu are in violation of the provisions of model election guidelines prescribed in National Sports Development Code of India (NSDCI) 2011 which authorises president of the concerned federation to appoint returning officer. It is stated that the entire process of election starting from appointment of returning officer without approval of president, SGFI, was in violation of the NSDCI 2011. You are therefore requested to conduct re-election as per the provisions of model election guidelines prescribed in NSDCI 2011.”
The letter was marked to both Sushil and Mishra. Talking to TOI, Sushil expressed happiness over the ministry’s decision to call the bluff of Mishra & Co and said that he would soon be sending the election notice to SGFI’s member state/UT associations. “This is certainly a positive development and I express my sincere thanks to the ministry for issuing directions to conduct the re-election process in a fair and transparent manner as per the provisions laid down in the NSDCI 2011,” he stated.
Sushil has already lodged an FIR against Mishra at the Model Town police station in Delhi for the forgery committed by him.