The long-standing feud between Indian Olympic Association’s (IOA) top brass took an interesting turn this week when its president, Narinder Dhruv Batra, was accused of diverting Hockey India funds worth Rs 35 lakh for personal benefit
Indian Olympic Association’s (IOA) top brass’s long-standing feud took an interesting turn this week when its president, Narinder Dhruv Batra, was accused of diverting Hockey India funds worth Rs 35 lakh for personal benefit.
After receiving a complaint from an unnamed source on the same line, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) initiated a preliminary enquiry against the 64-year-old IOA chief. However, before we dive into further details of the recent development, it is important to know about Batra, who rose to prominence in the Indian sports circle by rebuilding the nation’s hockey and held key roles in prominent national and international sports bodies.
Who is Narinder Batra?
Born in Jammu, Batra has often confessed his love for hockey and went on to represent the J&K team in his youth. He never made it to the national team, but the successful businessman did manage to stay close to the game. He returned to the fold in an administrative capacity during the formation of Hockey India in 2009.
He was pivotal in the emergence of the new hockey body, leading the effort to bring forth the fallacies of the now-disbanded Indian Hockey Federation (IHF) — led by top cop KPS Gill — through several court battles. The previous body’s shortcomings were finally exposed in 2008 when eight-time gold medallist India couldn’t make it to the Beijing Olympics for the first time in history.
Batra was named the treasurer of the newly-formed HI in the inaugural year and took over as its secretary-general later that year. He was named the interim chief of the federation for the first time after president Vidya Stokes had to step down from the role over the age-limit guidelines. Batra held the post for two months before Mariamma Koshy was appointed as the new chief of the body late in 2010.
The former Asian Hockey Federation chief (2003-2013) continued to serve as the secretary-general until October 2014, when he was elected as the president for full tenure.
Batra, who gained the reputation of a man who minces no words, gained notoriety for his national team coach’s hire-and-fire policy but was also credited for improved infrastructure for the national team (including permanent national camps at SAI facilities) while introducing the culture of foreign coaches.
His clout in the hockey world only grew with the ever-improving performance of the Indian team, who won the 2014 Asian Games gold medal, 2016 World Hockey League bronze, and 2016 Asian Champions Trophy title among others.
All this soon led to him becoming the first Asian to be elected as the chief of the international hockey (FIH) in 2016 for a full term before being re-elected as the president again for a second term until 2024.
Taking charge of IOA and infighting with Rajeev Mehta
Batra’s stature further grew in the sporting world when he became the Indian Olympic Association president in 2017 with rival Anil Khanna (All India Tennis Association’s honourary life president) withdrawing his candidature. Batra, who also served as the Delhi Cricket Association (DDCA) treasurer from 2010 to 2013, was at the helm at a crucial juncture as India enjoyed success at the 2018 Asian Games, Commonwealth Games and 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
This was followed by getting inducted into the International Olympic Committee as a member in 2019 and a year later he was made a member of the Olympic Channel Commission as well.
However, a long-standing tussle for power with IOA secretary general Rajeev Mehta came out in public in December 2021 with the latter announcing his candidacy for the president against Batra at the now-postponed IOA election. This was a clear indication of how unsettled things were at the Olympic Bhawan.
Several media reports had pointed at the two factions of the IOA infighting, which ultimately snowballed into the postponement of the elections by the Delhi High Court. A petition was filed by sports lawyer and activist Rahul Mehra, who pointed out the body’s non-adherence to the National Sports Development Code of India 2011 for electing new office bearers.
This was also followed by a letter from the IOC, which urged that the two parties needed to sort out their differences and work in harmony while recognising Batra as the leader despite the IOA’s failure to hold the election before the January 2022 deadline.
However, the submission of different applications from each factions in response to a 13-point objection raised by lawyer Mehra in February points out that the two rivals are not willing to see eye to eye.
Did the factionalism lead to a CBI enquiry against Batra?
While one may assume that the recent preliminary enquiry by CBI is a result of the ongoing IOA war, the apex probing body is yet to confirm the name of the complainant. However, it’s worth mentioning that as per an Indian Express report Honorary Treasurer of IOA Anandeshwar Pandey, a known ally of Mehta, wrote to Batra on 29 March and accused him of financial irregularities. He also sought answers to expenditure on his office and the financial dealings of a company owned by Batra with Hockey India.
“This is in follow up of my letter of yesterday regarding the expenditure incurred on your office. You are continuing to remain silent and not reply. The delay in accounts is only because you are not providing the information requested by IOA. I have learnt that few days ago officers from CBI visited the IOA office and made enquiries about your office on the 2nd floor,” read the letter as per a report by The Indian Express. The letter also added that the CBI had earlier met Batra at the HI office.
“Is it correct that Hockey India has confirmed that it is Hockey India which has spent the funds on your office and not you personally as you have been claiming all along?” read the letter.
The letter further accused Batra of grave misconduct as it alleged his company, Super Parts, of creating a false loan liability to cover up the role of Hokey India.
“How did the name of your personal company Super Parts appear in the report of Internal Auditor V K Bajaj and company. Why was there a fake attempt to cover up the role of Hockey India by creating a false loan liability in favour of Super Parts Private limited? Why was a financial loss being created for IOA. Only to cover up the misuse of funds by Hockey India,” the letter read.
In fact, this is not the first time Mehta and Batra are facing accusations of misusing their power through their respective stooges. For instance, Rajeev Mehta faced the allegation of holding multiple posts in different sports organisation in the country (violation of NSDCI) by an IOA member back in 2020.
With inputs from agencies