New Delhi, Feb 11 (LAB) The Delhi High Court today suspended the Table Tennis Federation of India and directed to set up an inquiry committee to look into its day-to-day functioning.
Justice Rekha Palli, while hearing a Commonwealth Games gold Medalist Manika Batra’s petition, observed the report of the three-member committee, which showed that TTFI safeguarded the interests of its officials.
The Additional Solicitor General informed the Bench that due to allegations regarding the misconduct of TTFI, the Sports Authority could take action against TTFI in terms of the National Sports Code.
The Court directed the federation to appoint an administrator within a week. The Court found that allegations against the national coach Soumyadeep Roy of indulging in match-fixing during the Olympic qualifiers in March are said to be true.
The judge further said this country takes pride in its sportspersons and people who don’t understand how players are to be treated “should be out”. The Court posted the matter for the next hearing on April 13.
The Case pertains to a matter in which India’s star paddler Manika Batra had filed a case in September last year accusing Roy of asking her to lose a match so that his student Sitirtha Mukherjee qualifies for the Summer Games.
The CWG gold medallist had also accused Roy of match-fixing during the Olympic qualifiers in Doha in March 2021. During the previous hearings, the court deferred the decision to appoint an administrator.
On November 17, the Court appointed the committee to look into the matter of TTFI’s handling of the match-fixing allegations made by Manika Batra.
Manika Batra is a Commonwealth Games gold medallist, a two-time Olympian, and a winner of multiple other honors, Manika Batra an Indian table tennis star excelled during the Tokyo Olympics. In Tokyo 2020, Manika Batra became the first women’s table tennis player from India to make it to the round of 32 in singles at an Olympics. /LAB/SNG/