Supreme Court of India
MADHYA PRADESH TRIATHLON ASSOCIATION THROUGH ITS SECRETARY AND ANR. ETC.versusINDIAN TRIATHLON FEDERATION AND ORS. ETC.
- Citation
- 1996 INSC 1316
- Decided
- 8 November 1996
- Disposal
- Disposed off
Holding
Disputes covered by IOA Rule XIX must be referred to the IOA‑appointed Arbitration Board, and the Supreme Court may direct the President of the IOA to appoint such a board, leading to the disposal of the transfer petitions.
Summary
The Madhya Pradesh Triathlon Association filed transfer petitions under Section 25 of the Code of Civil Procedure seeking relief against the Indian Triathlon Federation and others. The parties had earlier agreed to settle their disputes pursuant to Rule XIX of the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) Rules, which mandates arbitration of internal sports‑federation conflicts. The Supreme Court examined whether the court could compel the IOA President to implement this arbitration mechanism and whether the pending suits should be transferred. Relying on the IOA’s decision dated 29 November 1995 and the mandatory nature of Rule XIX, the Court directed the President of the IOA to appoint an Arbitration Board as prescribed. Consequently, the transfer petitions were dismissed and all the suits were ordered to be referred to the Arbitration Board. The judgment emphasized the need to keep sports disputes within the sporting arena rather than the regular courts.
Issues considered
- Whether disputes arising within a national sports federation or between its members must be settled exclusively under the Indian Olympic Association’s Rule XIX, thereby precluding court intervention.
- Whether the Supreme Court can direct the President of the IOA to appoint an Arbitration Board in accordance with Rule XIX.
- Whether transfer petitions filed under Section 25 of the Code of Civil Procedure should be disposed of and the suits transferred to the appointed Arbitration Board.
Legislation cited
Subjects
Indian Olympic AssociationRule XIXSports federation disputeArbitrationSection 25 CPCTransfer petitionSupreme Court
Judgment
A MADHYA PRADESH TRIATHLON ASSOCIATION THROUGH ITS
SECRETARY AND ANR. ETC.
V.
INDIAN TRIATHLON FEDERATION AND ORS. ETC.
NOVEMBER 8, 1996
B
[K. RAMASWAMY A~ID G.B. PATTANAIK, JJ.]
Sports:
Indian Olympic Association Rules:
c
Rule XIX-Disputes in National Sports Federations/Associations/
State Olympic Associations affiliated to Indian Olympic Association-
Settlement of-Before this Court parties agreed to settle their disputes in
terms of Rule XIX-Held, in view of the decision of the Indian Olympic
D Association taken on 29.11.1995 in its Annual General Meeting, the
President cf the IO.A. is directed to follow the procedure prescribed in
Rule XIX and appoint an Arbitration Board in terms thereof
CIVIL ORIGINAL JURISDICTION : Transfer Petition (C) Nos.
239-252 of 1996 Etc.
E
Under Section 25 of the Code of Civil Procedure.
R.K. Jain, Kapil Sibal, C.S. Vaidyanathan, M.N. Krishnamani, R.P.
Bhat, Manoj Goel, Ms. Abha R. Sharma, Brij Bhushan, Ranjit Kumar,
F Ms. Anu Mohla, R.S. Massey, S.A. Syed, Pankaj Kalra, Rakesh Khanna,
Vineet Kumar, Manoj Saxena, Irshad Ahmed, T. Raja and Ashok Mathur
for the appearing parties.
The following Order of the Court was delivered :
G It is rather unfortunate and we feel that every Indian citizen would
feel ashamed of the fact that not even one sports-person out of the huge
population of 94 crores could find a place in the victory stand in the
Olympic Games 1996 held at Atlanta. Instead, all these Associations are
busy in the court proceedings and spending their spirit on the litigation
H instead of inculcating spirit of sports in the track and field. These cases
662
M.P. TRIATHLON ASSN. v. INDIAN TRIATHLON FEDERATION 663
are some instances of the deplorable state of affairs. But, it is heartening A
to note that all of them have agreed for the settlement of the disputes in
terms of Rule XIX of the Indian Olympic Association Rules which reads
as under:
"Settlement of Disputes/Conflicts in the National Sports Federations/
State Olympic Associations. B
(i) All National Sports Federations/Associations/State Olympic
Associations affiliated to 1.0.A. shall include in their
Constitution a provision that the Federations/Associations
would have all unresolved disputes settled by the 1.0.A.,
and their Members shall voluntarily surrender their right of C
seeking redress in any Court of Law.
(ii) Every Member shall be deemed to continue its membership
of the 1.0.A. on the specific condition that it voluntarily
surrenders its right of seeking redress in any Court
~L-. D
(iii) All unresolved disputes arising within the National Sports
Federations/Associations/State Olympic Association affiliated
to the IOA, shall be referred by the FederationslAssociations
to the IOA for settlement by the IOA. For this purpose, the
IOA Executive Council, on the recommendation of the E
President IOA, shall recommend 9 names to the disputing
parties, to select one name, in consultation with the president
IOA, which is acceptable to both the parties. The Arbitration
proceedings shall be completed within the period specified
by the IOA Executive Council. President IOA, based on the
circumstances of the case, has the authority to extend, or F
vary, the period.
(iv) In the event of an unresolved dispute within an affiliated
Unit of the IOA, which is referred to the IOA by a Member,
and which affects normal working of the Unit, or prevents G
preparation and training of the sport/team under the charge
of the Unit for purposes of International representation/
competition, the IOA Executive Council will constitute an
ad-hoc body from within the Members of the General
Assembly, as may be necessary until the dispute within the
Unit is resolved. H
664 SUPREMECOURTREPORTS [1996] SUPP. 8 S.C.R.
A (v) All disputes between National Sports Federations/Associations
and the IOA, or within the JOA itself, will be dealt with in
the same manner as laid down in (iii) above.
In furtherance thereof the Annual General Body meeting of JOA
held on November 29, 1995 decided as under:
B
"Dispute in Federations/Olympic Associations.
Regarding the disputes in Indian Triathlon Federation, Uttar
Pradesh Olympic Association and J & K Olympic Association
Dr. B. Sivanthi Adityan stated that he would appoint a two
c or three member Committee which will be requested to submit
its report before the next Executive·Council meeting of the
IOA.
Decision:
D
The president, IOA, is to constitute a two or three member
committee to look into all aspect of disputes and submit its
recommendations for the consideration of the Executive
Council, JOA.
E In the light of the above decision, we direct the President of JOA to
follow the procedure prescribed in Rule XIX referred to herein before, in
particular clauses (i), (ii) and (iii) and appoint an Arbitration Board in
terms thereof.
F The Transfer Petitions are accordingly disposed of. All the suits are
transferred to the Arbitration Board. No. costs.
In view of the order passed by us on 4.11.1996, Shri Ranjit Kumar,
learned counsel has appeared for all the respondents though he states that
he did not receive any instruction from any one of them. He acted merely
G on directions of this Court.
R.P. Petitions disposed of.
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