Delhi High Court appoints fact-finding committee for equestrian federation

The much-awaited clean-up in the Equestrian Federation of India (EFI) will commence after the Delhi High Court ordered an appointment of a fact-finding committee to look into the affairs of the federation.

The committee headed by Justice (retd) Najmi Waziri has been tasked to submit a report in four months. As per the directive, the elections for the new EFI executive will be held once the report is submitted.

Importantly, Justice Sanjeev Narula set aside the sports ministry’s decision to grant exemption to the EFI from complying with some provisions of the National Sports Development Code of India 2011. This means that the EFI now has to work with the state bodies, which was not the case.

The president of the Rajasthan Equestrian Association, Raghuvendra Singh Dundlod, welcomed the judgment saying the decision will ensure a proper clean-up of the body. The Rajasthan federation is one of the petitioners in the case.

“It is the fifth time that the Court has ruled in our favour. On April 11, 2023, the Court upheld our view that EFI was in violation of the Sports Code with an electoral college skewed by clubs against the State Association. On September 15, 2023 as well as on May 21 and 29 this year, the Court ruled against the EFI arguments,” Dundlod said in a statement.

Dundlod further said the practice of nominating incumbent Quartermaster General as the EFI president, Director-General of Supplies & Transport as vice-president (administration) and Remount and Veterinary Corps Centre and College Commander as vice-president (veterinary) would now come to an end and the EFI would embrace democratic methods.

He also wished that the EFI secretary-general Col Jaiveer Singh would stop hurting the sport with needless court applications. “He has not followed the advice and directives of the executive committee, reinstated by the Hon’ble Court in May this year,” he said.