CHENNAI: At a time when the government is waging a war against corruption, Suresh Kalmadi — booked for allegedly misappropriating huge sums of money during the 2010 Commonwealth Games — is back as Life President of the Indian Olympic Foundation.
After spending months behind bars and cases pending against him, he was chosen to the post unanimously at the IOA’s Annual General Meeting on Monday. Abhay Singh Chautala, another controversial figure, also became a Life President. Sports Minister Vijay Goel described the appointments as illegal and said a report would be sought from IOA.
It remains to be seen what the International Olympic Committee does, considering it had banned the IOA for violating ethical guidelines in 2012. Kalmadi was IOA chief during the CWG mess. Charges against him include conspiracy, forgery, misconduct and provisions under the Prevention of Corruption Act. Despite that, he was chosen as the honorary Lifetime President of Asian Athletics Association last year.
It was learnt that both names were proposed by Rakesh Gupta, one of the six joint secretaries. The announcement was not made at the post-meeting media interaction, but through an email later in the evening. Several members were surprised by the move, but kept quiet given the mood of the house.
“Nobody has been proven guilty. Charges were made and they are fighting. It was a unanimous decision and there is no political angle,” IOA president N Ramachandran said. “The entire House agreed. The House is supreme, like Parliament. As the president, I have no say in these things.”
Chautala too has an inglorious past. After serving as IOA president for two years, he resigned following corruption charges in 2014. The meeting was also attended by Lalit Bhanot, who had to quit as IOA secretary in 2012 over corruption charges. “The kind of past they have might create a wrong image. But everybody voted for them,” said Girish Phadnis of Rowing Federation of India.