Gurugram: Haryana Assembly Wednesday passed a bill that seeks to regulate sports associations in the state — a move that is being seen as an attempt by the Manohar Lal Khattar-led Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government to take control of these bodies.
The Haryana State Sports Associations (Registration and Regulation) Bill, 2024, provides for mandatory registration of all sports bodies and regulation of their activities, including trials and championships organised by them, besides maintenance of records and submission of requisite information to regulators. The bill makes contravention of its provisions a punishable offence with imprisonment of three to six months, and a fine which shall not be less than Rs 50,000 but which may extend to Rs 1 lakh.
When the bill came up for discussion in the assembly Wednesday, Deputy CM Dushyant Chautala stood up and offered a suggestion which he said could be incorporated into the bill before it’s passed.
“Deputy Speaker, Sir. It seems that the one who drafted this bill has copied and pasted certain things from some old document. The National Sports Code brought in 2022 prescribes the tenure of the sports association to four years while Clause 11 (4) of this bill provides the registration of a sports association to last four to three years, which earlier used to be the tenure of sports associations. I suggest that since all sports associations are to follow the National Sports Code, we should correct this,” Chautala said, addressing Deputy Speaker Ranbir Gangwa who was in the chair at the time.
Khattar replied by saying it was good that this fact had been brought to the notice of the House. However, he added that a sports association registered for three years can apply for renewal after that. He also said that this provision can be amended in the next session.
The bill was later passed by a voice vote Wednesday, the last day of the Budget Session.
Sports administrators, however, see this legislation as an attempt by the Khattar government to take control of the state’s sports associations, which they say is against the spirit of the Olympic charter.
Bhupinder Singh, a former vice-president of the Indian Boxing Federation and former treasurer of the Haryana Olympic Association, said the Olympic Charter strictly prohibits any government interference in the functioning of sports associations.
“The Olympic movement as well as affairs of the International Olympic Committee are governed by a document called the Olympic Charter. It specifically prohibits any interference from the government in the running of sports associations. Through this bill, the government wants to take control over the sports bodies through the backdoor. This may jeopardise the interests of sportspersons,” Singh told The Print Wednesday.
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What bill seeks to do
A statement from Khattar — who also holds the sports portfolio — mentioned in the bill’s statement of objects and reasons said the idea behind the legislation is to deter sports associations functioning at the state and district levels from indulging in unfair practices prejudicial to the interests of sports and sportspersons.
“Such sports associations neither maintain proper records nor have proper transparency. The state government feels legally constrained to regulate such matters in the absence of any specific laws in this regard,” read Khattar’s statement on the bill.
The primary objective of the bill, it added, is to safeguard the interests of sportspersons and sports while promoting the spirit of sportsmanship in the state.
The legislation seeks to establish regulatory bodies at the state- and regional-level to oversee registration and regulation of the working of these sports associations. In addition, these regulatory bodies will have the authority to look into complaints against sports associations and their office bearers to ensure adherence to fair practices.
The bill also specifies consequences for non-registration and cancellation of registration.
Further, it defines the obligations of state- and district-level sports associations. These include holding championships, setting up training facilities, maintaining records, and making requisite disclosures.
The bill makes it compulsory for all sports associations in Haryana to get registered within a stipulated period. Once registered, the associations will be entitled to use “Haryana” as a prefix and the district-level associations, the name of their respective district.
The registered district-level associations will have the right to participate in the state championships while the registered state-level associations will have the right to participate in national sporting events.
Haryana State Sports Registration Council
Section 3 of the bill provides for the state government to set up a Haryana State Sports Registration Council by notification in the official gazette.
The council will have a chairperson to be nominated by the government. Among its members will be a ‘sportsperson from the state who has represented the country in international events’ or a ‘person who has special knowledge or experience of at least 25 years in administration or law’.
The director of the state sports department will be a member secretary of the council and two members are to be elected from registered state sports associations, provided that they are not eligible to contest the immediate next election.
The government will also nominate to the council one office bearer who is a teacher of law or has practised law for at least seven years and another who has represented the state and the country in at least three events.
Powers vested in the Haryana State Sports Registration Council are described in Section 4 of the Haryana State Sports Association (Registration and Regulation), Bill 2024. These include registering sports associations at the state level and regulating matters related to registration, sports administration and unfair practices.
The council will also be responsible for maintaining a register of state-level sports associations duly registered under the proposed legislation and to enquire into complaints or conduct suo motu probe into acts of omission or commission alleged against the state-level associations.
Further, the council will have the power to recommend adoption of international covenants and best international practices relating to sports and to ensure effective enforcement of competitive sports. It will also oversee functions of regional sports registration councils.
Exactly on the lines of the Haryana State Sports Registration Council, Section 5 of the bill provides for the setting up of a Regional Sports Registration Council in each region with an officer, not below the rank of a divisional commissioner, as chairperson, and a deputy commissioner from the region a member by rotation.
Office bearers of the regional council will include a district sports officer of the district where the office of the regional council is located, two office bearers from state-level sports associations to be nominated by the state government and another two to be elected by district-level sports associations. Members of the regional council will also include two ‘eminent sports persons’ from that region who have represented the state and the country and will be nominated by the state government.
Powers of the regional councils will largely be the same as that of the state council.
The bill provides that if the Haryana Sports Registration Council believes that the state-level sports association has failed to comply with any of the obligations it is mandated to perform for the promotion of sports, “it may, after giving a reasonable opportunity of hearing, impose a fine which shall not be less than Rs 5 lakh but which may extend to Rs 10 lakh or cancel the registration for reasons to be recorded in writing”.
Once the registration is cancelled, no sports association shall be entitled to use “Haryana” or use the name of a district as part of its name, or hold any sports trials or tournaments.
Another provision provides that in case of contravention, all members of the association shall be liable jointly and severally for the offence.
(Edited by Amrtansh Arora)
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