SC Refuses To Interfere With Punjab & Haryana HC Order On Staying WFI Polls

The Supreme Court on Tuesday refused to interfere with the order of Punjab and Haryana High Court staying the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) elections.

A bench comprising of Justices Abhay S Oka and Pankaj Mithal asked the petitioner, Andhra Pradesh Amateur Wrestling Association to approach the high court with its grievances.

The bench stated, “Why should we entertain this? You go to the high court…Instead of applying for vacating the interim stay, the petitioner has chosen to approach the Supreme Court. We, therefore, decline to entertain this special leave petition.”

The apex court heard a plea by the Andhra Pradesh Amateur Wrestling Association against the high court order of August 11.

Previously, the Indian Olympic Association-appointed ad-hoc panel governing the WFI had initially scheduled the elections for July 6 but was forced to reschedule the polls to July 11 after disaffiliated state bodies from Maharashtra, Haryana, Telangana, Rajasthan, and Himachal Pradesh approached it for a hearing, claiming their dismissal was not appropriate.

The panel heard the aggrieved representatives of the state bodies but the polls couldn’t go ahead even on July 11, with the Gauhati High Court staying the elections after the Assam Wrestling Association sought the right to participate in the poll process.