The decision of the judges in declaring the Jesus Boat Club (JBC), Kollam, as winners in the final of the 59th Nehru Trophy Boat Race, held here on August 13, is likely to be reviewed in the light of a report submitted by an enquiry panel here on Tuesday.
According to sources, an official enquiry was ordered into the allegations levelled by the three other boat clubs that were in the final — the Freedom Boat Club, Alappuzha, the United Boat Club, Kainakary, and the Alappuzha Town Boat Club — that JBC had violated statutory regulations. The three clubs said they were forced to pay Rs.2 lakh each for uniforms for their rowers after they were told that they would be disqualified if the money was not paid and the uniforms not worn, pointed out with the help of video clippings that rowers of JBC had not worn uniforms in the race.
The official enquiry was conducted by Major Irrigation Executive Engineer Venugopal and a report was submitted to Revenue Divisional Officer A. Gopakumar here on Tuesday. It is learnt that the report has confirmed that JBC had violated regulations.
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According to Mr. Gopakumar, however, a decision on whether the violations called for disqualification and the required course of action was not taken yet. The report would now be submitted to the District Collector and a judicial panel, which would study the report. The panel would then submit its recommendations to the executive committee of the Nehru Trophy Boat Race Society.
The final decision would be known only after that, he said.