Soni Satti
According to the Delhi High Court, the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) President, Narinder Batra, tried to get a stay on a complaint filed by Karate Association of India (KAI) General Secretary Ambedkar Gupta against the incumbent before the IOA’s Ethics Commission.
The Court also took strong exception with Batra’s appointment of the chairman of the IOA’s Ethics Commission, a Former Chief Justice of a High Court, as a party in the case.
In an order dated April 27, the High Court ordered Batra to deposit Rs.50,000 with the Court’s Legal Service Committee as “costs.” The dispute dates back to June of last year when Batra allegedly threatened to “throw karate out of India” after a disagreement between Gupta and KAI president Likha Tara surfaced.
Gupta contended that Batra had called Gupta at the time and threatened to “throw karate out of India,”. Following that, the KAI General Secretary lodged a lawsuit with the IOA’s Ethics Commission, which Batra challenged in the Delhi High Court. The Delhi High Court granted Gupta time until June 1 to file a petition in the trial court.
The order stated,
“In light of the conduct of respondent No. 1 [Batra and his advocates] in filing the suit in its present form, which has necessitated the present petition, this is a fit case for imposition of costs upon him. Respondent No. 1 is directed to deposit costs of Rs. 50,000 with the Delhi High Court Legal Service Committee,”