Plea on regulating sports bodies: HC says no jurisdiction

The Delhi High Court today disposed of a PIL seeking establishment of a monitoring and regulatory agency for controlling the functioning of sports departments and autonomous organisations across the country, saying it lacked jurisdiction over the matters raised by it.
A bench of Chief Justice G Rohini and Justice R S Endlaw, while disposing of the PIL filed by Rajiv Boolchand Jain, said that the plea raised multiple issues and each of them required individual attention.
"We find the pleadings... To be largely relating to the alleged malfunctioning in the Motilal Nehru School of Sports, Rai, District Sonepat, Haryana and in the working of the Department of Sports, Haryana and qua which we are of the considered view that the appropriate court to exercise territorial jurisdiction would be the High Court of Punjab and Haryana at Chandigarh and not this court.

"We are also of the view that the petition suffers from multiplicity of issues raised, each of which is such as to be requiring individual attention," the bench said.
The PIL had sought setting up of regulatory agency for protection of the rights of sportspersons as has been done for women, children, minorities, Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes by the government.
In his plea, Jain has also sought a CBI probe into the working of the Department of Sports and Youth Affairs of Haryana government alleging "rampant corruption and misuse of allocated funds" there.
The petition had also sought directions to the Ministry of Sports and Youth Affairs, to "immediately declare BCCI as a National Sports Federation" and take over its charge so that each and every aspect of cricket in India should be under government's scanner.