Thaindian News

New Delhi, May 21 (IANS) The deposed president of Indian Hockey Federation (IHF), K.P.S. Gill, got a shot in the arm when the Delhi High Court Friday quashed the national ferderation’s derecognition by the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) and reinistated him.
Delivering the judgment, Justice S.Muralidhar said the “status quo ante the impugned orders should be restored.”

Gill said the judgment is in the interest of Indian hockey and that the IHF will soon be back in action.

“We stand vindicated by the order,” Gill told IANS moments after the Delhi High Court order.

The senior IOA and HI officials went into a lengthy huddle after the judgment but no word came out officially from either organisation till late in the evening.

Describing the IOA’s decision to disaffiliate IHF as “knee jerk” reaction, the court observed: “Unfortuntely for over two years now the petitioner IHF has continued to remain under an illegal suspension followed by an illegal disaffiliation and an illegal de-recognition. This situation calls for a restitutive correction.”

Gill said he will call an Annual General Meeting of the IHF and decide on the futire course of action.

“We are already having the nationals and soon we will call the AGM of the IHF and take necessary steps to revive the game in the country,” he said.

“We will sit with the international federation and work out the future course of action,” Gill said when asked how will IHF now get back into the International Hockey Federation (FIH) which has recognised the ad hoc Hockey India (HI) that came up after the supersession of the IHF.

Gill felt the the IOA and the sports ministry should accept the court’s verdict and allow the federation to function as the sole authority to run the sport in the country.

“It is a detailed and well-reasoned out order. It is self-explanatory and it has been taken in the interest of hockey in the country. Now it is for all the concerned parties to respect this order,” Gill said.

IHF was disaffiliated by the IOA in 2008 after its secretary-general Jothikumaran was allegedly caught in a sting operation, demanding cash from players for selection in the national team.

Jothikumaran told IANS that the verdict has totally exposed the sinister move by people with a personal agenda.

“The suspension was totally wrong and the judgment was on the expected lines since it was clear that the disaffiliation was mala fide and it was done by people who wanted to sabotage Indian hockey. Hockey is back in the limelight and it is in the safe hands,” he said.

“For the last two years, there was no on-field activity and we will soon put the game back on the rails as we have already decided to hold the national championship.”

Aslam Khan, an elected IHF vice-president who quit as secretary-general of the ad hoc HI, said he would react after going through full judgment.

The court order will be a setback for HI as its repeated attempts to hold elections failed. The state associations have charged HI of manipulating the merger process of men’s and women’s units and many have also moved the court against HI.

Indian Women’s Hockey Federation secretary Amrit Bose said now they will have no problems in merger and election of IHF as mandated by the International Hockey Federation (IHF).

“HI was putting up all parallel bodies for vested interest. Now after the court order we will call all the state units and I am sure they will be willing to merge the units and have the elections as soon as possible,” Bose said.

“We will conduct free, fair and transparent electionS. It can be done in a matter of one week.

“The sports ministry should not have any problem and they should accept the judgement because they want free and fair election and we can conduct it.”

Bose, who had her problems with HI, blasted the ad hoc body saying that it has pushed the sport back by at least five years in the country.

“We have gone five years back. There is no national competition and no tournaments in the country. We have to work with renewed pace to ensure that hockey regains its glorious past.”