IOA recognises Indian Golf Union led by Harish Kumar Reddy

The Indian Olympic Association (IOA) on Tuesday recognised the Indian Golf Union (IGU) led by Harish Kumar Reddy.

The IOA issued a letter signed by the federation president PT Usha in this regard.

IOA, on the other hand, announced the body led by Brijinder Singh null and void.

“After a detailed study of the documents of two different AGM and elections held on the same dates at two different venues in New Delhi, it is concluded that the AGM and election conducted by the Returning Officer Justice OP Garg (Retd) is valid with many reasons and some of them are: “The Returning Officer, who was initially officially appointed had never resigned as alleged by the IGU and thus was the competed person to conduct the election as notified by IGU,” IOA said in the letter.

Two AGMs were held on December 15 to elect the new IGU office-bearers - one at the India Habitat Centre (IHC) where Singh was re-elected president with retired Punjab and Haryana High Court judge, Rameshwar Malik, as the Returning Officer, and the other at the Olympic Bhawan, where Reddy was elected with Justice OP Garg (Retd) as the RO.

The IOA, while recognising the body headed by Reddy, stated that the Returning Officer, Justice Garg, had never resigned as alleged by the previous set of IGU office-bearers.

Justice Garg, a retired judge of the Allahabad High Court, was appointed the Returning Officer for the elections on December 15, following which he issued suspension orders to five “virtually non-existent” state associations on November 26.

Subsequently, in an e-mail on November 28 to governing council members, Singh cited “unavoidable circumstances” for the postponement of the December 15 AGM.

The decision followed Garg’s “resignation” as Returning Officer after a controversial reversal of his earlier order barring the five state associations from participating in the polls.