The Delhi High Court Wednesday asked the government how it was funding the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) and why it had no control over it and other sports federations that had neither accountability nor transparency.
A division bench of acting Chief Justice Madan B. Lokur and Justice Mukta Gupta questioned the government on a public suit seeking to probe the government’s functioning of an independent organisation.
“When the government is giving (funds) then why it has no control over IOA, which is claiming to be an independent body,” the bench questioned the government counsel.
The court also asked the government to furnish the audit accounts and prepare a chart as to how much funding the government is providing to IOA and other sports federations by April 7.
The direction has come on a petition filed by Rahul Mehra who said various sports bodies cannot function as private organisations without any accountability or obligations to the people of the country.
Citing a list of 13 sports bodies, Mehra had sought a direction to the government to ensure that various sports bodies recognised by it function “in an accountable and transparent manner” for the objective for which they have been created.
The government must withdraw recognition in case the bodies and their chiefs failed to achieve their objectives, besides withdrawing funds and patronage from the organisations, he said.
“Most of these organisations are controlled by persons who have neither the expertise nor any interest in the development and promotion of sports and they are using their positions for promotion,” Mehra has alleged
