Lagatar24 Desk
New Delhi, Aug 18: The Supreme Court on Thursday ordered status quo with respect to the Delhi High Court judgment for the appointment of the Committee of Administrators (CoA) to handle the affairs of the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) till the election of a new Executive Committee.
The charge of IOA should not, at least temporarily, be transferred to the CoA, according to a ruling from a bench consisting of Chief Justice of India (CJI) NV Raman and Justice CT Ravikumar.
“The charge will not be handed over to the CoA appointed by the Delhi High Court. List on Monday,” the Court said.
The Court opted to order status quo after noting that a loss of opportunities to compete in the Olympics and other international competitions was possible as a result of the High Court’s judgement.
Notably, the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) filed a petition with the Supreme Court on Thursday against the Delhi High Court’s recent order of appointing the IOA’s Committee of Administrators (CoA) to prepare the Constitution and hold fresh elections for the nation’s Olympic sports governing body.
The matter was mentioned before the apex court on Thursday for an urgent hearing. The court agreed to hear the matter at the end of the board on Thursday.
In his appearance on behalf of the Center, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta stated that the appointment of the CoA is viewed as an external intervention on the international stage, which may result in the suspension of IOA.
Earlier, the Delhi High Court on Aug 16 appointed a CoA for the IOA. The CoA will prepare and adopt the constitution of IOA within 16 weeks.
