Delhi HC notice to government on Olympic body's functioning

The Delhi High Court Monday issued notice to the government on a plea seeking constitution of an "ad-hoc interim body" to run the suspended Indian Olympic Association, which has sought the quashing of the national sports code.

A division bench of Chief Justice D. Murugesan and Justice Rajiv Sahai Endlaw sought the response from the ministry and issued notice to the Indian Olympic Association (IOA), suspended by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) Dec 6 for alleged government's interference into its affairs.

The court would next hear the case Jan 14, 2013.

Petitioner advocate Rahul Mehra asked the court to form a 15-member committee for day-to-day functioning of the IOA.

He said the committee, including people from fields like sports, media, law and industry, should be set up for three-six months for reporting directly to the court.

Mehra said financial and other forms of assistance from the government should be directly given to the athletes through a nodal agency, to be formed by the ad-hoc body.

Meanwhile, the IOA approaching sought the quashing of the National Sports Development Code of India, 2011 saying that the IOC Dec 6 had suspended it as it followed the government's code during the elections of its office bearers.