Sports administrator Narinder Batra was on Wednesday removed as Indian Olympic Association (IOA) president after Delhi High Court struck down the position of ‘Life Member’ in Hockey India, courtesy which he had contested and won the apex body elections back in 2017.
IOA senior vice-president Anil Khanna took over as acting chief.
Batra had filed his nomination for the IOA president’s post as a representative (life member) of Hockey India.
Delhi High Court ruled that the position of life member and life president were “illegal” since they were not in consonance with the National Sports Code and installed a three-member Committee of Administrators (CoA) to run the day-to-day affairs of Hockey India.
The ruling came after a petition filed by former India player Aslam Sher Khan, who had challenged Batra’s appointment as life member of Hockey India.
Making a reference to the Supreme Court case relating to All India Football Federation (AIFF), the high court constituted a committee. It will be headed by former Supreme Court judge Anil Ramesh Dave and will have former chief election commissioner SY Quraishi and former India hockey captain Zafar Iqbal as members.
Later, the IOA issued a statement saying Batra has been removed and Khanna is now the acting chief of the body.
Before that Batra had already issued a statement, saying he will not seek re-election for a second term when the IOA elections are held and that needs to spend more time as head of internatinal hockey federation (FIH).