New Delhi, Nov 26 (PTI) Five state associations of the Indian Golf Union (IGU) have been suspended by Returning Officer O P Garg ahead of its upcoming elections for being "virtually non-existent" and violating the guidelines of the sport's governing body.
The Himachal Pradesh Proam Golf Association, Arunachal Pradesh Golf Association, Madhya Prant Golf Association, Nagaland Golf Association, and Sikkim State Golf Association are the five entities that have been barred from the December 15 election.
Garg, a retired Judge of the Allahabad High Court, issued the suspension order on Monday following a complaint from Shyam Sunder, Chairman of the IGU Technical Committee and a council member.
"In my quest to reach the truth I have waded through all the documents as made available to me by IGU and find that the above five SGAs are virtually non existent and have blatantly failed and deliberately committed breach of the law, for the simple reason they do not fulfil the requirements of the bye laws of IGU," Garg said in his order.
"In view of the above facts my considered view is that the five SGAs named above are not entitled to take part in the ongoing election process. Their names shall not appear in the list of electoral college."
The Annual General Meeting of the IGU to elect the office-bearers and members of the governing council for the ensuing year (2024-26) is due on December 15.
The Returning Officer stated that an email with all the relevant facts was sent to the five associations on November 22, asking them to submit their views within two days.
"It was also pointed out that on 25th of this month at 11.30 am the matter will be heard and discussed through video conferencing," Garg said in the order.
"None of the above five SGAs have responded to the email message."
Consequently, a video conference was held on Monday involving President Sh Brijinder Singh, complainant Shyam Sunder, and Maj Gen Bibhuti Bhushan (DG, IGU).
"Since the affected five SGAs did not respond and their telephone numbers are not available in the record of IGU, none of them could be contacted," he added.
In his complaint, Shyam Sunder highlighted that the five "SGAs have no golf courses as their members, but only include Army Environmental Park and Training Areas (AEPTA)".
"...the names of the Presidents, Secretaries, and office-bearers of these SGAs are not in public domain. (These) SGAs exist only on paper and against the letter and spirit of the national sports code."
The complaint also highlighted that the "five SGAs have not held their AGMs and failed to file their annual report/balance sheets as per record of IGU".
"...the SGAs have also not submitted the annual reports to the registrar of societies which is required under the law."