IOA chief PT Usha recognises Indian Golf Union led by Harish Kumar Reddy

The Indian Olympic Association has given recognition to the Indian Golf Union led by Harish Kumar Reddy while declaring the other body, headed by Brijinder Singh, void. Two AGMs were held on December 15 to elect the new IGU office-bearers -- one at the India Habitat Centre 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 as the RO. In its letter, the IOA stated the reasons for recognising the body headed by Reddy, saying the Returning Officer, Justice Garg, had never resigned as alleged by the previous set of IGU office-bearers. “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 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. But two days later, on December 5, Kohli resigned and Singh appointed Malik as the new RO.’ The IOA letter further stated that the AGM and election held at the Olympic Bhawan had the “required quorum in accordance with the Article 22 of the IGU rules”.