New Delhi: The Delhi high court on Wednesday sought the response of the Centre and Boxing Federation of India (BFI) on a plea filed by Delhi Amateur Boxing Association (DABA) for appointment of an independent returning officer (RO) to oversee and conduct the elections of the Boxing Federation of India (BFI), facing controversy over management and transparency issues.
The plea was necessitated after former Delhi high court judge, justice (retd) RK Gauba stepped down as the RO on April 14, attributing his decision to an unhealthy and uncalled for “smear campaign” allegedly orchestrated by different factions within the federation. Gauba was appointed by BFI’s former president Ajay Singh on March 7.
In its application argued by senior advocate Abhijat Bal, along with advocates Vidushpat Singhania and Prateek Chadha, DABA argued that there was a need for appointment of an “independent returning officer”, since the erstwhile RO was appointed by Singh, who was himself contesting for the post of President in the forthcoming elections.
Though the current term of the BFI’s executive committee ended on February 2, no new elections for the office-bearers for the 2025-29 have been held so far. The elections were initially scheduled for March 28, but due to the failure to conduct elections, the federation is currently being managed by a six-member interim committee. This committee was formulated by World Boxing on April 7 and is chaired by Singh.
A bench of justice Mini Pushkarna issued notice to BFI, and Union sports ministry and posted the matter for hearing on August 18.
BFI was represented by senior advocate Rajshekhar Rao, while the union sports ministry was represented by standing counsel Premtosh Kumar Mishra.
DABA suggested that the appointment of an independent RO was imperative to uphold the objectives of the Sports Code, ensure conducting and carry forwarding the elections in a free, fair and transparent manner. “The current state of governance within the BFI, marked by non-compliance with the Sports Code and procedural lapses, underscores the pressing need for oversight to ensure transparency, accountability and uninterrupted progression of the sports,” the petition stated.
The application was filed by DABA in its petition challenging BFI’s March 7 circular allowing elected members of the state units to participate in the elections. On March 19, justice Mini Pushkarna had allowed DABA to participate in BFI’s upcoming elections by staying BFI’s March 7 circular till August 18. However, BFI had appealed against the order before the division bench, which is currently pending.
