Federations not complying with National Sports Code cannot be granted recognition: Delhi HC

New Delhi [India], January 8 : The Delhi High Court on Friday made it clear that National Sports Code is the law and the federations which are not complying with it cannot be granted recognition. The court gave a last opportunity to the Centre to show that the 41 National Sports Federations granted recognition were complying with the requirements of the code.
A bench of Justices Vipin Sanghi and Najmi Waziri said: "We grant one last opportunity to the Respondent (Centre) to comply with the order of November 6, 2020, failing which we direct the secretary (sports), Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports to remain present during the next hearing."
With this direction, the court scheduled the next hearing on January 22.
The court was hearing a plea filed by Advocate Rahul Mehra challenging the recognition granted to the 41 NSFs.
Senior advocate Sachin Dutta and central government standing counsel Anil Soni have urged the court to grant more time to file a reply in the matter.
The petitioner's lawyer opposed the Centre's request saying that enough time has already been given to the authorities.
Mehra has informed the court that the "government has failed" to take appropriate action against those federations who violated the sports code as a decision relating to recognition to the 41 NSFs is contrary to the sports code and issued in a wholly arbitrary manner.