In a blatant breach of IOA’s Constitution, the National Rifle Association of India allowed members from an ad hoc committee in Jharkhand — which is neither affiliated to the state Olympic body nor recognised by the government — to cast votes in NRAI’s last elections.
The NRAI recognises the ad hoc body instead of the Jharkhand Rifles Association (JRA) that is affiliated to the state Olympic committee and recognised by the government.
The JRA is also registered under the Societies Registration Act 1860. Whereas the ad hoc committee, formed by the NRAI in 2012, is neither affiliated to the state Olympic body nor recognised by the state government.
It is clearly stated in one of the clauses of the IOA constitution that “no national federation/association shall affiliate a sports unit of any state/department that has not been affiliated/recognised by the state Olympic association which is affiliated to the IOA.”
“Despite repeated requests for affiliation since 2000, when we formed the Jharkhand Rifles Association that had long been recognised by the state Olympic body and the state government, the NRAI is still to give us recognition,” JRA general secretary, Snajesh Mohan Thakur told PTI.
Sources close to the national federation claimed the NRAI got four members from the ad hoc body to vote in its favour “without the approval” of the governing body.
When quizzed, the NRAI said the national federation is entitled to recognise whichever it feels is the right body.
“It is not compulsory and necessary for the NRAI to only recognise the body which is recognised by the state and affiliated to its Olympic body,” said NRAI adviser Baljeet Singh Sethi.
A little bit of background check revealed that the NRAI had created a parallel shooting body in 2008 in Jharkhand, which was however dissolved in 2012 by current president Raninder Singh who formed the ad hoc committee under the chairmanship of Mr. Sethi.
Mr. Thakur said the body recognised by the NRAI doesn’t even have a bank account to show for. Mr. Thakur asked where was the ad hoc committee when the National Games were held in 2011.
“I was made the coordinator of the Games by the state government and was in charge of conducting the shooting events,” Mr. Thakur said.
The JRA was formed in 2000, soon after the Jharkhand state came into existence.
“When the state and Olympic body has given us recognition and when we are the ones who are promoting the sport in the state, we fail to understand why we are being denied by the national federation,” Mr. Thakur said.
He reiterated that the ad hoc body is only in name and alleged that the NRAI had “made a fake list of voters” for the April 6 elections.
“That it is just in name can be gauged from the fact that the president of the ad hoc body — Mr. A.K. Sen — lives somewhere in Bengal while the secretary stays in Jamshedpur,” Mr. Thakur said.
