Court allows Kalmadi's London visit

New Delhi - The Delhi High Court Wednesday restrained sacked Commonwealth Games Organising Committee chief Suresh Kalmadi from attending the July 27 opening ceremony of the London Olympics. However, the court allowed him to visit London.

The court restrained Kalmadi from attending the ceremony saying his presence would give the impression that he was representing India and that would be “contrary to national interest”.

A division bench of Acting Chief Justice A.K. Sikri and Justice Rajiv Sahai Endlaw said: “We are not allowing him to attend the opening ceremony.”

The court directed Kalmadi not to leave the country till July 27, the day of the opening ceremony in London, and left it to the discretion of the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) to take a decision on the participation of Kalmadi in its meeting.

IAAF is an international body where Kalmadi intends to participate in his individual capacity as president of Asian Athletes Association, another international body, as its asian representative, the bench said.

The court also directed Kalmadi to be bound by his statement and not attend the games in his official capacity.

Kalmadi is out on bail in a corruption case linked to the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi.

Rahul Mehra, an advocate, had filed a public interest litigation (PIL) seeking direction to restrain Kalmadi from visiting London.

He has said Kalmadi was going to attend the games at public expense and in violation of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) code of ethics.

“Having regard to the fact that Kalmadi was associated with International Olympic Committee for quite sometime, his presence in the ensuing Olympic Games, particularly at the opening ceremony be viewed by one and all concerned as representing India and would be contrary to national interest. Therefore, we are not allowing him to attend the opening ceremony,” the court ordered.

The court was of the opinion that participation of Kalmadi in the IAAF council meetings was not purely an individual affair.

The bench opined: “When we examine the matter from national point of view, we find that participation of Kalmadi in the council meetings of IAAF, which is one of the limbs of IOC, is not purely an individual affair.”

The court cited the Supreme Court order and observed that issue of national interest was the prime concern, the importance of which could not be undermined.

“In this backdrop, in order to strike balance between two competing situations, we feel that while permitting Kalmadi to go to London and attend council meeting of IAAF, it is also extremely important that the IOC and IAAF are made aware of the events that are taking place in this country.”

The court, while allowing Kalmadi to attend the meetings of IAAF, put some conditions on his visit and left it to IAAF to decide on his participation.

“Since these have been duly mentioned and recorded by us in this order, it would be appropriate if the copy of this order is shown to IOC and IAAF and it is left to the discretion of the IAAF whether it would like to allow Kalmadi to participate in the council meetings of IAAF,” the court said.

“We leave it to the discretion of the IAAF to take decision as to whether Kalmadi is entitled to participate in its council meetings,” order said.

The court also directed Kalmadi not to attend the games in his official capacity.

“Kalmadi shall, however, be bound by his statement not to attend any of the Olympic events in any official capacity.”

The bench in its order also said that the Indian Olympic Association (IOA), within 24 hours, inform the IAAF about the order of the high court along with the copy of this order. It also asked IOA to send a copy of the court’s order to IOC.