Commissioner appointed to hold polls to Chennai Hockey Association

Justice CV Karthikeyan passed the order on a plea moved by Lingaraj memorial club, one among the many hockey clubs existing in the state seeking to declare the election notification issued on May 4, 2017, as illegal, null and void as it is against the by-laws of the Chennai Hockey Association.

Appointing former district judge K Perumal as the commissioner, the court directed him to prepare a valid list of affiliated clubs taking into consideration the payment of subscription as required under the rules, eligibility of the clubs as required under the by-laws and bona fide clubs, who are interested in promotion of hockey as a team game and interested in ensuring the smooth conduct of election. Also, directing the commissioner to prepare the list of eligible members and eligibility of candidates who want to contest as per the bylaws of the club and decide the nature of election to be conducted, the Judge sought the commissioner to follow the recommendations of Justice Lodha Committee which is universally applicable to every sports organisation.

Noting that if the Judge-commissioner feels that any issue is to be brought to the notice of the court it can do so through an interim report within three weeks, the judge then posted the matter to January 12, 2018, for further hearing.

Incidentally, during the hearing, both the parties to the suit agreed for a court appointed commissioner to conduct and monitor the election process and Justice Karthikeyan recorded his appreciation of the counsels appearing on either side for their commitment that there should be an election conducted for the Chennai Hockey Association.