Judicial Analysis Court Copy Headnote Facts Arguments Court observation

2022 Supreme(SC) 1589

SUPREME COURT OF INDIA
D.Y. Chandrachud, A.S. Bopanna, JJ.
All India Football Federation – Appellant
Versus
Rahul Mehra & Ors. – Respondents
SLP (C) No(s). 30748-30749 of 2017
Decided On : 22-08-2022

Advocates appeared:
Mr. Gopal Sankaranarayanan, Sr. Advocate, Mr. Samar Bansal, Advocate, Mr. Siddharth Nath, Advocate, Mr. Nagarkatti Kartik Uday, Advocate, Mr. Madhav Gupta, Advocate, Mr. Vedant Kapur, Advocate, Ms. Jhanvi Dubey, Advocate, Ms. Prakriti Joshi, Advocate, For the Appellant / Mr. Tushar Mehta, SG, Mr. Sanjay Jain, ASG, Mr. Balbir Singh, ASG, Mr. K.M. Nataraj, ASG, Ms. Swarupama Chaturvedi, Advocate, Mr. Rajat Nair, Advocate, Mr. Kanu Agrawal, Advocate, Mr. Apoorv Kurup, Advocate, Mr. Arkaj Kumar, Advocate, Mr. Padmesh Mishra, Advocate, Mr. Yuvraj Sharma, Advocate, Ms. Tanya Aggarwal, Advocate, Mr. Nishank Tripathi, Advocate, Ms. Ashima Gupta, Advocate, Mr. Amrish Kumar, Advocate, Mr. Rahul Mehra, in person Mr. Chaitanya Gosain, Advocate, Mr. Amanpreet Singh, Advocate, Mr. Anand Thumbayil, Advocate, Mr. Nar Hari Singh, Advocate, Ms. Ruchi Mishra, Advocate, Mr. Himant Phalpher, Advocate, Mr. Amaresh Kumar, Advocate, Mr. Shuvodeep Roy, Advocate, Mr. Anshuman Amaresh, Advocate, Ms. Ritika Sharma, Advocate, Mr. Prashant Bhushan, Advocate, Mr. Harshavardan Kotla, Advocate, Mr. Kshitij Maheshwari, Advocate, Mr. N. Sai Vinod, Advocate, Mr. K.V. Vishwanathan, Sr. Advocate, Mr. Sanjeev Kappor, Advocate, Mr. Sahil Narang, Advocate, Mr. Dhritiman Roy, Advocate, M/s Khaitan & Co., Advocate, Dr. Menaka Guruswamy, Sr. Advocate, Ms. Shristi Borthakur, Advocate, Mr. Prateek K. Chadha, Advocate, Ms. Radhika Dhanotia, Advocate, Ms. Shaffi Mathur, Advocate, Mr. Yash Sinha, Advocate, Mr. Utkarsh Pratap, Advocate, Ms. Radhika Dhanotia, Advocate, Mr. Kapil Sibal, Sr. Advocate, Mr. Abhimanyu Bhandari, Advocate, Mr. K.R. Sasiprabhu, Advocate, Ms. Manisha Singh, Advocate, Mr. Vishnu Sharma A.S., Advocate, Mr. Abhik Chimni, Advocate, Mr. Raghenth Basant, Advocate, Mr. M.F. Philip, Advocate, Ms. Roopali Lakhotia, Advocate, Ms. Purnima Krishna, Advocate, For the Respondent.

The court emphasized the importance of addressing FIFA's concerns and facilitating the revocation of the suspension to ensure the holding of the Under-17 Women's World Cup 2022 in India.

Headnote:
FIFA Suspension - AIFF - [FIFA, AIFF] - The court discussed the suspension of AIFF by FIFA and the measures required to revoke the suspension, including the restructuring of AIFF's electoral college and the management by an elected body. The court issued directions to modify the election program and voters' list to facilitate the revocation of the suspension and the holding of the Under-17 Women's World Cup 2022 in India.
Fact of the Case:

AIFF was suspended by FIFA, jeopardizing the Under-17 Women's World Cup 2022 in India. The Union Government engaged in dialogue with FIFA to address concerns regarding the administration and management of AIFF.
Finding of the Court:

The court issued directions to modify the election program and voters' list to facilitate the revocation of the suspension and the holding of the Under-17 Women's World Cup 2022 in India.
Issues: Suspension of AIFF by FIFA, restructuring of AIFF's electoral college, and the management by an elected body.
Ratio Decidendi: The court emphasized the importance of holding the Under-17 Women's World Cup 2022 in India and issued directions to address FIFA's concerns and facilitate the revocation of the suspension.
Final Decision: The court disposed of the IA and allowed the application for intervention. The mandate of the CoA was terminated, and directions were issued to modify the election program and voters' list to facilitate the revocation of the suspension and the holding of the Under-17 Women's World Cup 2022 in India.

ORDER

IA No 118844 of 2022 filed by Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports

1. On 15 August 2022, AIFF received a communication intimating that the Bureau of FIFA Council had on 14 August 2022 taken a decision to suspend AIFF from the membership of FIFA.

2. The immediate impact of the decision, as indicated by the Union of India is that:

(i) The Under-17 Women's World Cup 2022 which is to take place in October 2022 would be in jeopardy;

(ii) Indian teams selected by the AIFF and its affiliated clubs would no longer be entitled to take part in international football matches or competitions so long as the suspension continues;

3. In response to the communication from FIFA, the Union Government held discussions on 15 August 2022 following which, an email dated 16 August 2022 was received from FIFA. This was adverted to in the order dated 17 August 2022 passed by this Court. A further meeting took place on 18 August 2022 between the Union Government and FIFA, in pursuance of which FIFA addressed a communication dated 18 August 2022. The Union of India has responded on 18 August 2022, following which FIFA has addressed a communication on 20 August 2022. The exchange of correspondence indicates that the dialogue between the Union of India and FIFA is continuing.

4. Mr Tushar Mehta, Solicitor General, has submitted that FIFA has the following concerns:

(i) The administration and management of AIFF should be conducted by a duly elected body;

(ii) The electoral college for the forthcoming elections to AIFF's Executive Council[1] should consist only of representatives of States/Union Territories Member Associations;

(iii) An independent Electoral Committee should oversee the elections to the new EC;

(iv) The AIFF Constitution should be revised in accordance with the requirements of FIFA and AFC; and

(v) The election should take place at the earliest and an elected body should exclusively commence administering the affairs of AIFF.

[1] "EC"

5. In the application which has been filed by the Union Government, it has been submitted that the EC of AIFF would consist of 23 members of whom 17 members (inclusive of the President, a Treasurer and a Vice-President) will be elected by the electoral college consisting of the representatives of the State Associations/Union Territories. Apart from the 17 members, there would be six eminent players (four male and two female) who would be co-opted to the EC with voting rights. The co-option of six players in the EC is proposed in the following manner:

"17. The nomination/co-option of the players in the executive council [06 in numbers], the same may be co-opted in the following mannen-

"Out of the six (6) eminent players, there will be four men & two women. The eminent players may be nominated (co-opted) in the EC in the following objective manner:

"Eminent player" shall mean a past Football player, male or female who has been retired for at least 2(two years, and has represented India at at the senior level in at least 1 (one) competitive match sanctioned by FIFA/AFC (international matches). The date of retirement is to be reckoned from the date of the last game played.

Two separate list of men & women eminent players will be drawn in the descending order on the basis of number of international matches played.

For Men, top four (4) eminent players from the above list, subject to maximum one man player from each state will be nominated (co-opted) to the EC.

For women, top two (2) eminent players from the above list subject to maximum of one woman player for each state will be nominated (co-opted) to the EC.

These 6 (six) selected eminent players shall be co-opted as members in the EC, and shall have voting rights in the EC. (There will be maximum one man and one woman from any one state)."

6. In pursuance of the order dated 3 August 2022 passed by this Court, the process of election has reached up to the stage of filing nominations. The election is being conducted by one Returning officer and one Assistant Returning Officer. The

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