Archery Association of India's acting president Sunil Sharma rejects election date notification finalised by Committee of Administrators

Kolkata: The factional feud of the Archery Association of India (AAI) came out in the open after acting president Sunil Sharma rejected the 9 June date for elections finalised by the Committee of Administrators in consultation with secretary Maha Singh. Acting president Sharma had earlier sent a notice for conducting the association election on 26 May, which the secretary had then termed “unauthorized” and “contempt of court”. [caption id=“attachment_6025261” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representational image. Reuters[/caption] The ugly fight between the two warring factions of former presidents VK Malhotra and Rao has now come out in the open. On Friday, secretary Maha met five members in Chandigarh to discuss the “way forward” and decided on June 9 as the new election date but on expected lines, Sharma rejected it terming the meeting “unauthorised”. “For such a meeting to be convened, one needs to give 12 days’ notice. An emergent meeting may be convened by the secretary in consultation with the president on an urgent specific matter with five days’ notice,” Sharma told PTI from Jammu, quoting Article 33 (d) and (e) clauses of the constitution. Sharma further claimed that five of the 10 CoA members did not attend the meeting. Secretary Maha was not available for a comment. The development coincided with the Supreme Court’s Friday ruling that allowed AAI to delay their elections by four weeks as per the constitution amended on 4, December 2017. Hearing a petition moved by Rahul Mehra in the Mehra vs Maharashtra Archery Association case, the Apex Court also indicated that the implementation of the National Sports Code 2011 can happen after AAI elections. In a 1 May order, the Apex Court had set aside AAI’s election last year and directed fresh polls within four weeks. Subsequently BVP Rao resigned from the president’s post as Sharma became the acting chief.