KATHMANDU, Dec 29 : The Nepal Olympic Committee (NOC) has pushed through the election for its executive committee against the stay order of the Supreme Court which directed it not to hold the election.
The NOC held its election through an online process with the voting window open from 1 pm on Saturday. The election is against the stay order issued by the single bench of Justice Saranga Subedi at the Supreme Court on Thursday responding to a writ petition filed by Kamal Bahadur Chitrakar seeking to stop the NOC election.
With the holding of the election, the NOC leadership under president Jeevan Ram Shrestha has defied three orders from governmental authorities and the judiciary. They have defied an order from the Patan High Court, a directive from the Ministry of Youth and Sports (MoYS), and an order from the SC.
A number of committee members and office-bearers under the influence of Jeevan Ram had firstly defied the Patan High Court’s order on December 2 to not move forward with statute amendment by organizing a special general meeting on December 3, which amended the statute and announced the election for December 28. The amendment had enabled Jeevan Ram to contest the election for a third consecutive term. The clause 25(1) of the NOC’s statute states that a sitting president of the NOC cannot contest an election for a third consecutive term.
The leadership then defied a directive from the Ministry of Home Affairs (MoHA) to not move forward with the election process. The MoYS had written to the MoHA on December 22 to stop the candidacy registration scheduled for December 23. However, as the police personnel from the District Police Range (DPR), Lalitpur, picketed the Nepal Olympic Building on December 23, Jeevan Ram moved the candidacy registration to an online platform.
Olympic committee holds election despite SC’s stay order
During Saturday’s online election for the executive committee, the posts except for the president have been declared unopposed. Even for the post of the president, one of the three candidates Nilendra Raj Shrestha has shown disinterest following the order of the SC. NOC Secretary General Nilendra Raj Shrestha even took to Facebook on Friday night to urge NOC representatives not to go against the SC’s stay order.
Nilendra slammed Jeevan Ram for going forward with the election in an illegal way. “Perhaps he thinks of himself as the supreme authority of the state,” Nilendra told Republica, “By going to such lengths against the high court, the supreme court and the concerned ministry Jeevan Ram has shown his disregard for Nepal laws and regulations.”
Authorities dissatisfied with Jeevan Ram’s anarchy
Both the MoYS and the National Sports Council (NSC) under the ministry have expressed dissatisfaction over the anarchical conduct of NOC president Jeevan Ram who has defied the decision of multiple governmental bodies.
Member Secretary of the NSC Tanka Lal Ghising lamented the conduct of president Jeevan Ram citing the timing of the statute amendment and the defiance of court orders. He claimed that if the statute amendment had taken place a year earlier and with information to the stakeholders, NOC’s election process might not have invited problems.
“Jeevan Ram’s conduct is outright wrong in the sense that he initiated an amendment of statute of the NOC through a special general meeting less than a month prior to the election, especially when the Patan High Court had instructed the NOC to not hold any general meeting,” Ghising told Republica, “His disregard for the laws and the orders of court exposes his anarchical tendencies.”
In addition, Member Secretary Ghising noted the introduction of new committee members to the NOC right before the election and the conspiracy to withhold election in multiple sports associations as other disdainful acts by Jeevan Ram. Since the current heads of various sports associations are allied to Jeevan Ram, not holding fresh elections for the leadership posts in those organizations helped strengthen Jeevan Ram’s bid for a third tenure.
“Jeevan Ram committed the distasteful act of appointing new members including former president Tej Bahadur Gurung to the committee two days before the election,” Ghising said, “In addition, Jeevan Ram has supported to stall the election of various sports association in order to gain more votes during the election.”
Similarly, Under Secretary Sudarshan Marahatta, chief of Sports Organization and Coordination Division under the MoYS expressed disappointment over Jeevan Ram’s conduct. “What should be done to a person who has no regard for the laws?” he said, “The laws will hold them accountable.”
Who will take action?
NSC Member Secretary Ghising informed Republica that the NOC has defied clause 28(K) of the National Sports Development Act 2020 by going against the order of the courts and the directive of MoYS. Clause 28(K) of the act states that any sports body needs to follow the directives and conditions issued by the MoYS and NSC.
The National Sports Development Act 2020 has also provisioned a preliminary three-month suspension of sports organizations defying clause 28 of the act. Clause 29 of the act enables the NSC to firstly write to the NOC to comply with the act within a set timeframe and if the NOC still defies the directive, the NSC can suspend the registration of the NOC for an initial duration of three months.
In addition, Member Secretary Ghising also revealed that the NOC might invite suspension from the International Olympic Committee. Clause 29(7) of the Olympic Charter states that the IOC Executive Board may take any appropriate decisions including suspension of or withdrawal of recognition of NOC if the constitution, law or other regulations in force in the country, or any act by any governmental or other body causes the activity of the NOC to be hampered.
