Swarna Shukla –
Published On: November 17, 2021 at 20:00 IST
The Delhi High Court decided to constitute a three-member committee to inquire into the allegations of match-fixing raised by Table Tennis player Manika Batra against national coach Soumyadeep Roy.
Manika Batra also accused Roy of pressurizing her to “Throw away” a match in the Olympic qualifiers, with a view to help one of his privateers. Following her non-selection for the 25th ITTF Asian Table Tennis Championships, 2021 to be held in Doha from September 28, Batra moved to the High Court against the Table Tennis Federation of India (TTFI).
The Court appointed the Committee and it shall be free to adopt its own procedure and is believed to submit an interim report within four weeks. The Petitioner also expressed serious reservations about the functioning of the present Executive Board of TTFI and sought for the appointment of an administrator.
The Court stated, “The request of Petitioner for appointing an administrator is being deferred and will be considered at a time when deemed necessary.”
The Court earlier directed the Central Government to conduct an Independent Enquiry into the allegations put forth by Batra and on persuasion by the Joint Secretary of the Sports Department, the Court opined there was no question of any misconduct on Batra’s part.
It had thereby asked the TTFI to withdraw the show because of notices issued to her. It had asked the national sports body to immediately give a clean chit to the player.
It was communicated to the Court that TTFI will forthwith withdraw the show cause notices and all consequential proceedings against Batra, and communicate the same to the International Table Tennis Federation.
The International Federation needs any further information in this regard, the Office bearers of TTFI will forthwith transfer the request received by them to the 3-member Committee appointed by the Court.
Also Read: Delhi High Court tells Table Tennis Federation to give clean chit to player Manika Batra
