Justice L Nageswara Rao Entrusted with Task of Finalising AIFF Constitution

Through an order[1] dated May 2, 2023, the Supreme Court entrusted the former Apex Court Judge, Justice L Nageswara Rao with the responsibility of considering the draft AIFF constitution and finalizing the same after taking into account the objections of the concerned stakeholders. The court has asked for a comprehensive report by July 31, 2023.

In 2017, the Delhi High Court set aside the election results of the federation. Later that year, the Supreme Court formed a three-member Committee of Administrators (CoA) which was tasked with drafting the AIFF constitution in accordance with the National Sports Development Code of India, 2011 and the Model Election Guidelines (MEG). Additionally, the committee was instructed to conduct elections and ensure the constitution of the Executive Committee.

In May 2022, the draft Constitution was made available to the stakeholders for their comments and then was submitted to the court in July 2022.

Considering that the objections received from the stakeholders pertain to not just matters concerning the law but also policy issues, the court deemed it appropriate to entrust the task of finalizing the AIFF constitution to Justice Rao who undertook a similar task last year for amending the constitution of the Indian Olympic Association (IOA).

The matter will be heard next on August 8, 2023.

[1] All India Football Federation vs. Rahul Mehra & Ors. [SLP(C) Nos. 30748-30749/2017]