A Delhi court has restrained the ethics commission of the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) from proceeding with its inquiry against President Narinder Dhruv Batra on a complaint filed by the Karate Association of India official Ambedkar Gupta. (More Sports News)
Gupta in his complaint had alleged that Batra over a phone call had threatened that he would get him derecognised from the Karate Association of India.
Additional District Judge Jay Thareja set aside the order passed by a civil judge which dismissed a plea by Batra seeking a prohibitory injunction on an inquiry initiated against him.
Calling the order "perverse and liable to be set aside", the Additional District Judge said, “This appeal is allowed and till the disposal of the subject suit, Ethics Commission is restrained from proceeding with its investigation/
inquiry against the appellant.”
In an order dated August 26, he held, “I conclude that prima facie or perhaps ex facie, Ethics Commission had no authority to proceed suomoto on the complaint of respondent no.2 [Ambedkar Gupta] against the appellant.”
The judge said that Batra is entitled to the interim prohibitory injunction because his case is on a much better footing than the case of the respondents particularly the Ethics Commission.
Batra had moved the court alleging that Gupta filed a fabricated complaint against him in June 2020 and that the IOA Ethics Commission dealt with it without any jurisdiction.
It was his case that the commission was not an adjudicating authority to try a complaint of such fraudulent nature.
The application was, however, dismissed by a civil judge on June 18, 2021, following which he filed an appeal.
