Wrestling Federation of India elections: Punjab and Haryana High Court stay order further delays polls

The Punjab and Haryana High Court on Friday stayed the much-anticipated Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) elections slated for Saturday till further orders following a petition filed by the Haryana Wrestling Association (HWA).

The order came following a petition filed by the HWA, challenging the move to allow Haryana Amateur Wrestling Association to cast votes in the WFI polls.

Advocate Ravinder Malik, representing the Haryana Wrestling Association which is headed by Member of Parliament Deepinder Hooda, said the HWA is a registered society in the state and is affiliated with the WFI.

As per rules and the constitution of the WFI, any registered affiliated body can send two representatives to cast their votes for the WFI polls, he stated.

The HWA advocate said that one more body, Haryana Amateur Wrestling Association, has claimed that it was affiliated with the WFI as well as Haryana Olympic Association.

Haryana Amateur Wrestling Association further claimed that the HWA has no business participating in the election process because it is not affiliated with the WFI.

"The returning officer has given the finding in favour of Haryana Amateur Wrestling Association, saying they fulfill the condition of affiliation with WFI as well as 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 they are not entitled to participate in the poll process," said Malik, representing HWA.

"In case, Haryana Amateur Wrestling Association is allowed to participate in the election process, then it will cause prejudice as well as the WFI elections will be illegal," he said.

The court has taken note of it and said lest it should cause prejudice to anybody, prima facie, it seems Haryana Amateur Wrestling Association is not eligible to cast votes.

The court of Justice Vinod S Bhardwaj of the HC has stayed the elections of the WFI.

The Indian Olympic Association-appointed ad-hoc panel governing the WFI had initially scheduled the elections for July 6 but was forced to reschedule the polls to July 11 after disaffiliated state bodies from Maharashtra, Haryana, Telangana, Rajasthan and Himachal Pradesh approached it for a hearing, claiming that their dismissal was not appropriate.

The panel heard the aggrieved representatives of the state bodies but the polls could not go ahead even on July 11 with the Gauhati High Court staying the elections after the Assam Wrestling Association (AWA) sought the right to participate in the poll process.

The Supreme Court then paved the way for elections to be held on August 12 after staying the Gauhati High Court order before Friday's development had again put a question mark on the poll process.

The global governing body for wrestling, United World Wrestling, had previously issued a warning to the WFI regarding the possibility of suspension if the elections continued to be pushed back. It remains to be seen whether any actions will be taken by the international organization in light of these developments.

Also read: Bajrang Punia and Vinesh Phogat to not take part in World Championships 2023?