Malhotra calls Executive Board meeting to discuss IOC's missives

New Delhi - Vijay Kumar Malhotra, acting president of the Indian Olympic Association (IOA), Monday informed the International Olympic Committee (IOC) that his correspondence with it would be discussed at a meeting of the IOA Executive Board.

Malhotra has asked IOA secretary-general Randhir Singh to convene a meeting of the Executive Board as early as possible to discuss the correspondence, giving the mandatory 15-day notice to members.

“Indian Olympic Association has called the meeting of its Executives Board to discuss the letter received from the International Olympic Committee and other important matters,” Malhotra said in a statement.

Randhir Singh is busy with the elections in Punjab as his first cousin Amarendra Singh is leading the state Congress Party.

The factions supporting Malhotra and Randhir Singh continue to stick to their stands on the issue of show-cause notices to IOA president Suresh Kalmadi and joint secretary Lalit Bhanot and V.K. Verma, ex-president of Badminton Association of India (BAI). They were released last week after spending nine months in jail in corruption cases related to the 2010 Commonwealth Games.

While IOA vice-president Tarlochan Singh continue to insist that Randhir Singh hurriedly set up an Ethics Commission with the ulterior motive to undermine Kalmadi’s authority and that of other IOA office-bearers, Randhir loyalist R.K. Anand maintains that the show-cause letter issued to Kalmadi and others is still valid since it was sent out before it was disbanded and said that Malhotra was aware of the notice.

“I read today (Monday) news about remarks of certain IOA office bearers regarding mentioning of orders of ethics commission as fabricated. The orders passed by Ethics Commission were to your knowledge. It is at your instance the dispatch was delayed as you wanted the meeting of IOA general assembly to be over,” Anand said in a letter to Malhotra.

“I would like to inform the IOC about these developments as the rules were suggested by them … Let the IOC take such decision as advised by their Ethics Commission and the audacity of certain office bearers to pass comments on senior judges of Supreme Court (who are members of IOA Ethics Commission),” he said.

Tarlochan Singh wondered why the show-cause letter was kept under wraps and made public only last week, saying the IOA was not aware of the letter. How could it be issued to the president without the general house’s knowledge, he asked.

“Why the letters were not placed before the Executive Board and the Annual General meetings Dec 15 when the decision to disband the Ethics Committee was taken and a new Ethics Committee was formally constituted,” Tarlochan told IANS.

“In any case, how could an Ethics Commission take a decision when the rules were still being framed? In fact, the action of the people who sent out the show-cause letters should be taken up by the Committee,” he said.

The Executive Board meeting will also discuss how the showcause notice to Kalmadi was leaked to the media.

Kalmadi, former chairman of the Commonwealth Games organising committee, and Verma, ex-director general of the organising committee, were released on bail Thursday after nine months in jail in corruption cases related to the Commonwealth Games. Bhanot was released Saturday.

After being released, Kalmadi has asked Malhotra to continue in the post since he won’t be available to represent IOA for a long time.

-IANS