Avinash Azad
The High Court of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh has issued notices to the Union Territory’s top bureaucrats and sports authorities on a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) seeking strict implementation of the National Sports Development Code of India, 2011, in the functioning of sports associations across J&K.
A Division Bench comprising Chief Justice Arun Palli and Justice Rajnesh Oswal, while hearing the matter through virtual mode, issued notices to the Chief Secretary, J\&K; Commissioner/Secretary, Youth Services and Sports Department; Secretary, J\&K Sports Council; Badminton Association of India; and J&K Badminton Association through its General Secretary. Senior AAG S.S. Nanda accepted notice on behalf of the Chief Secretary, Government Advocate Eishaan Dadhichi on behalf of the Commissioner Secretary Youth Services and Sports, while Advocate Anshuja Tak appeared for the J\&K Sports Council
The High Court of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh has issued notices to the Union Territory’s top bureaucrats and sports authorities on a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) seeking strict implementation of the National Sports Development Code of India, 2011, in the functioning of sports associations across J&K.
The PIL (WP(C)PIL No. 07/2025) has been filed by three former state and national badminton players—Bakhtawar Singh, Romesh Kumar Sharma, and Rishi Khurana—through Advocate S.S. Ahmed with Advocates Supriya Chouhan and M. Zulkarnain Chowdhary. The petitioners allege that most sports associations in J&K, including the Badminton Association of J&K, are being run in violation of the Sports Code, with ineligible office-bearers monopolizing power for personal gains.
During the hearing, Advocate Ahmed highlighted a report of the Divisional Sports Officer, J&K Sports Council, Jammu (dated April 21, 2022) which flagged glaring irregularities in the elections of the Badminton Association of J&K. The report noted the absence of records related to age and tenure of office bearers, lack of NOCs, and even the participation of individuals affiliated to political parties—contrary to the Sports Code provisions.
The petitioners pointed out that in the last elections held on March 6, 2022, former Cabinet Minister and BJP MLA from Vijaypur, Chander Parkash Sharma (popularly known as Ganga), was elected as President of the J&K Badminton Association, despite the Sports Code explicitly prohibiting politically affiliated persons from holding office in sports bodies.
Several other office bearers—including Dr. O.D. Sharma (Chairman), Dr. Satish Chander (Vice Chairman), and Balbir Singh Jamwal (General Secretary)—are reportedly above 70 years of age, in direct contravention of the Code. Calling the situation “a tip of the iceberg,” the petitioners alleged that violations extend across multiple sports associations in J&K, while the J&K Sports Council has failed to act, thereby “defeating the sports movement” in the region.
