A single judge of the Kerala High Court on Tuesday referred to a Division Bench a contempt of court petition filed by athlete P.U. Chithra against officials of Athletic Federation of India (AFI) alleging that the federation had not complied with the court directive to ensure her participation in the world championship
When the petition came up before the single judge, the counsel for the AFI submitted that the federation could not file an affidavit in response to a directive of the court as its officials were in London. The affidavit would be filed on their return.
The court had earlier directed the AFI to file an affidavit explaining reasons for including Sudha Singh in the Indian team list published by the International Association of Athletics Federation (IAAF) despite absence of her name in the earlier entry list.
According to the contempt petition filed by Ms.Chithra, the action of the AFI was a clear case of contempt of court. She pointed out in her petition that the AFI had written a simple letter to the IAAF just saying that the High Court had passed an interim order. The letter did not say that Ms. Chithra was excluded on account of a mistake committed by the federation. Nor had it requested the IAAF to rectify the mistake by, including her name in the team. In fact, no positive and effective steps had been taken by the federation to ensure participation of the petitioner in the world championship.
