Public Interest Litigation filed to seek ban on ministers heading sports federations

16-Apr-2012 8:10:00 AM

A public issue litigation has been filed in Bombay High Court to end interference of ministers in sports once and for all...

Society for Fast Justice (SFJ), a nongovernmental organisation (NGO), has filed a petition in Bombay High Court against ministers heading sports federations in the country given that they spend office hours to do the party work instead of working for the development of the sport they are in-charge of.

The petition asks for a ruling that the ministers, such as Praful Patel (president, All India Football Federation), Sharad Pawar (president, International Cricket Council), Vilasrao Deshmukh (president, Mumbai Cricket Association) Farookh Abdullah (president, Jammu and Kashmir Cricket Association) and C.P.Joshi (president, Rajasthan Cricket Association), give up either their ministerial positions or the managerial posts they occupy in the sphere of sports.

The petitioners are of the opinion that Central and State ministers are public servants and that they were compromising on their primary work as public servants by being part of several sports federations.

SJF in its petition states that Praful Patel, in his position as the civil aviation minister, was responsible for Air India’s debt increasing from Rs. 10, 000 crore to Rs.40, 000 crore.

The president of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), Sharad Pawar has been blamed for mismanagement in his role as the union agriculture minister which led to excess or inadequate harvest of various crops.

The NGO has asked for attendance records of the said ministers to be checked while the petition is likely to be heard on April 19.

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