New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Tuesday set aside the Punjab and Haryana High Court order, which imposed a stay on the holding of elections to the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI). A bench comprising justices Abhay S Oka and Pankaj Mithal noted that the pending writ petition filed by the Haryana Wrestling Association, by an interim order the High Court had stayed the election of WFI. The apex court said it failed to understand how the entire process of the election could have been set at naught by the high court.
“We fail to understand how the entire process of the election could have been set at naught by HC. The proper course would have been to allow the election to be conducted and make the election subject to the outcome of the pending writ petition”, said the bench.
The apex court set aside the High Court order and said that it would be open for returning officers to proceed with the election by publishing a revised election programme. The bench made it clear that the outcome of the election will be subject to orders that may be passed in the petition.
The ad-hoc Committee Wrestling Federation of India had moved the apex court challenging the September order of the High Court putting the elections on hold. Earlier, the apex court had sought a reply from the Centre and others on the plea challenging a stay imposed by the Punjab and Haryana High Court. In August, the apex court refused to interfere with the High Court’s order to stay the WFI elections.
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