The Supreme Court on Friday warned BJP leader Kalyan Chaubey that it would issue non-bailable warrants against him and strip him of his posts in two sports bodies for delaying the hearing of his petition that challenged the election of Trinamool Congress leader Sadhan Pande from Maniktala Assembly constituency.

Chaubey is the president of the All India Football Federation (AIFF) and the joint secretary of the Indian Olympic Association (IOA).

The Supreme Court also expressed displeasure at Calcutta High Court’s failure to abide by the top court’s directions in August 2023 that the hearing of the election petition be completed within six months.

A bench of Justice Surya Kant and Justice P.S. Narasimha issued a showcause notice to Chaube, asking him why the hearing of the election petition filed by him in 2021 should not be heard on a day-to-day basis by the high court and the issue be settled by June 2024.

The bench passed the directions while dealing with a petition filed by three voters complaining that the Maniktala constituency had been deprived of an elected representative since February 2022 following the death of then MLA Sadhan Pande.

According to the petitioners, the constituency has no MLA as the election petition had not been disposed of.

The Supreme Court noted that Chaubey’s counsels had been repeatedly seeking adjournments in the proceedings on the ground of his purported busy schedule with the two sports federations.

The bench on Friday said that it would be constrained to issue an order relieving Chaubey from his present positions in the AIFF and IOA as that would ensure his presence in the hearing.