The Hindu : Sport : I will obey courts: Gill

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Wednesday, May 19, 2010
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I will obey courts: Gill

NEW DELHI: The Union Sports Minister, M.S. Gill, said on Tuesday that he would obey the verdict of the courts with regard to the Union Government guidelines for the National Sports Federations (NSFs).

“I have to obey the Constitution; I will go by the decision of the courts,”said Gill while speaking from Shilaroo, Himachal Pradesh, where he had gone to inaugurate the newly-laid astro-turf at the high altitude training centre.

Two fundamental questions

Gill said that there were two fundamental questions to be asked in the ongoing dispute over the tenure guideline of the office-bearers of NSFs: “Should there be any limit to the term of an office-bearer?” and “should there be any final limit to the age of the office-bearer to continue in his/her post?.”

The minister said his ministry had liberalised the 1975 guidelines, in its latest order, to be in tune with the IOC regulations for its office-bearers and Executive members.

He said the Delhi High Court had ruled in the Narinder Batra case that the Government could enforce the guidelines and in the ongoing public interest litigation (which is to come up again for hearing on Wednesday) a bench headed by the Chief Justice had asked the Government to file an affidavit giving details of the steps taken.

“I can't run away from my responsibilities. Why can't they voluntarily say this is the limit?” said Gill.

“No one can resist an idea whose time has come,” he quoted French writer Victor Hugo to drive home the point that the time had come for the IOA and the NSFs to bring in reforms in keeping with trends within the Olympic Movement itself, instead of trying to hide behind the Olympic Charter. — Special Correspondent

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