The Punjab and Haryana High Court on Friday stayed the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) elections slated for August 12 until further orders. The order came on a petition filed by the Haryana Wrestling Association challenging the move to allow the Haryana Amateur Wrestling Association to cast votes in the polls.
Advocate Ravinder Malik, representing the Haryana Wrestling Association (HWA), which is headed by MP Deepinder Hooda, said the Haryana Wrestling Association is a registered society in the state of Haryana and is affiliated with the WFI. According to the election rules and constitution of the WFI, any registered affiliated body can send two representatives to cast their votes at the polls. He said that one more body, the Haryana Amateur Wrestling Association, has claimed that it is affiliated with the WFI as well as the Haryana Olympic Association. Haryana Amateur Wrestling Association further claimed that the HWA has no business participating in the election process because they are not affiliated with the WFI. “The returning officer has given the finding in favour of the Haryana Amateur Wrestling Association, saying they fulfil the condition of affiliation with WFI as well as the Haryana Olympic Association,” said the advocate. “We have challenged the returning officer’s order in the HC, saying that the Haryana Amateur Wrestling Association may be affiliated with the WFI but it is not affiliated with the HOA, meaning thereby they are not entitled to participate in the poll process,” said Malik.
If they are allowed to participate in the election process, then it will cause prejudice, and the WFI election will be illegal, he claimed. The court took note of it and said that lest it cause prejudice to anybody, prima facie, it seems they are not eligible to cast their votes.
