Former Sikkim HC chief justice appointed RO for December 15 IGU elections

Former Chief Justice of the Sikkim High Court Permod Kohli was on Tuesday appointed the Returning Officer for the Indian Golf Union (IGU) elections which will be held as per schedule on December 15.

The elections were earlier postponed indefinitely after the previous RO, justice OP Garg, a former judge of the Allahabad High Court, had resigned.

In an email to governing council members last Thursday, IGU president Brijinder Singh had cited "unavoidable circumstances" for the postponement.

Singh's decision to postpone the elections also had the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) president PT Usha seeking an explanation from the IGU chief.

The IOA chief had warned of taking "strict actions" including creating an ad hoc body in case the response was found "unsatisfactory".

However, the IGU said on Tuesday its elections for 2024-26 office bearers will be held as per the original schedule.

"With the tenure of incumbent Governing Council, led by President Brijinder Singh coming to an end, the new office bearers will be elected for the period of 2024-2026," IGU said in a statement.

In an email to the State Golf Associations (SGAs), Singh said he has appointed justice Kohli as the RO for the polls.

"With the powers vested to me as per the National Sports Development Code 2011 and also approved by the majority of the Governing Council of the Indian Golf Union, I have appointed Justice (Retd) Permod Kohli as the Returning Officer to conduct the IGU elections on 15 December 2024," he wrote.

"The fresh election schedule and other instructions shall be forwarded to all stakeholders by the Returning Officer Justice (Retd) Permod Kohli in due course," he added.

The former IGU RO justice Garg had earlier reversed his order of suspending five SGAs within a span of 24 hours for not following the body's bye-laws and were barred from taking part in the elections, saying that they were "virtually non-existent".

These SGAs are Himachal Pradesh Proam Golf Association, Arunachal Pradesh Golf Association, Madhya Pradesh Golf Association, Nagaland Golf Association and Sikkim State Golf Association.

The IGU said all eligible SGAs will have to file nominations by December 6, after which the new RO justice Kohli will scrutinise the candidates and prepare the final list by December 10.

"SGAs will have the freedom to withdraw any of their candidates till December 10, after which the elections will be held on December 15 and the results also declared the same day," the IGU added.