Delhi High Court orders forensic audit of HI finances

Vinayak Padmadeo

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New Delhi, November 7

The Delhi High Court has ordered the new management of Hockey India, led by former India captain Dilip Tirkey, to cooperate with the international firm Deloitte for the purpose of a forensic audit.

Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma and Justice Subramonium Prasad said that the audit has to be completed within six weeks.

The court was hearing a petition filed by the three-member committee of administrators that had run the HI affairs till the new body was formed.

“The aforesaid prayers have been opposed by the other side. However, this Court is of the opinion that a Report can certainly be furnished to this Court in a sealed cover by Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu India LLP within a period of six weeks,” the order stated.

The COA had sought the court’s interference after its request, which was part of the original order, for providing all the details for a forensic audit was ignored by the HI officials.

The petition sought “an order directing that the final report prepared by Deloitte be submitted in a sealed cover directly in Court” and “an appropriate order directing the relevant individuals in Hockey India to cooperate with Deloitte in providing any information necessary for the forensic audit.”

HI’s new secretary general, Bhola Nath Singh, said that the court’s order will be followed in spirit and law. “There is no question of non-compliance. Our federation will follow the order and cooperate,” Singh told The Tribune on Monday.

Sponsors’ money

Former India captain Aslam Sher Khan said he was looking forward to the audit as it would disclose where all the sponsorship money went. It was Khan’s petition that led to Narinder Batra losing his posts as the IOA and FIH president.

“In my opinion, the COA rushed into holding the elections as many of the disputes in the state bodies still exist,” Khan said. “This forensic audit is a must because the government of India spends over Rs 30 crore on our hockey teams. What happened to all the sponsorship money, such as the Rs 100 crore that came from the Odisha government? My guess is that Batra spent many crores to fund his elections to become the FIH president and towards getting the IOC membership,” he added.