Justice Rahul Bharti held that the JKOA was required to first align its constitution with the National Sports Development Code of India, 2011 and only thereafter conduct elections. The Court also appointed a two-member Committee of Administrators comprising retired District & Sessions Judges Chain Lal Bavoria and Virender Singh Bhau to take over the administration of the Association, revise its constitution and conduct fresh elections.

The Court underscored that sports bodies cannot be permitted to function merely as private associations when their functioning has a direct bearing on sportspersons and sporting opportunities. Referring to the Supreme Court's decision in All India Football Federation v. Rahul Mehra, 2025 INSC 1131, the Court remarked,

“It is high time we recognize that sporting facilities and opportunities and material resources of the community and their organizers are the institutions of the national life….It should be the deeper Sadhana (endeavour) of the State, and it is also our Constitutional duty to ensure that sporting facilities and opportunities flourish with institutional efficiency, integrity, professionalism and expertise”.

The court examined the election process beginning with a newspaper notice published on November 4, 2024. The Court noted that the notice did not specify the date of election, the procedure or deadline for submission of names of representatives, the authority to whom such names were to be sent, the mode of communication, or even the venue of the election.

The Court observed that the election notice did not even identify the affiliated sports associations for whose benefit it had purportedly been issued. It consequently questioned the very manner in which the electoral process had been initiated.

Justice Bharti observed,

“…Thus, very inception of so called election process by reference to the respondent No. 3 – J&K Olympic Association came up in a very surreptitious manner about which this Court has no hesitation in observing so considering the fact that the election of a Sports Body/Organization is meant not to be a stealth exercise”

The Court further scrutinised the appointment of Chander Shekhar Gupta as Returning Officer. It noted that an outgoing General Secretary, Dushyant Sharma, had informed Gupta through a handwritten letter that he had been appointed Returning Officer and had simultaneously specified the date and venue of the election, without there being a formal acceptance of the appointment by Gupta.

The Court found the subsequent conduct of the election process particularly problematic and made a strong observation,

“…The manner in which the respondent No. 5-Chander Shekhar Gupta (Advocate) has come to carry out the election process is sham on the face of it for the reason being that he acted on the script as served to him by the respondent No. 6 – Dushyant Sharma who himself has been able to enjoy repetitive term as an office bearer in contravention to National Sports Development Code and Govt. Instructions”

JKOA Could Not Continue With “Archaic Constitution”

The Court then examined the relationship between the JKOA and the Indian Olympic Association (IOA), as well as the regulatory framework governing sports administration. It noted that the IOA had already aligned its constitution with the National Sports Development Code, including provisions concerning tenure, cooling-off periods and eligibility of office bearers. The JKOA, however, continued to operate under its existing constitution, which permitted repeat terms without corresponding safeguards.

The Court held that the JKOA could not claim immunity from the National Sports Development Code merely by relying upon its existing rules and regulations.

“The respondent No. 3–J&K Olympic Association cannot claim an immunity of perpetuating an old stereotyped archaic constitution,” the Court observed, noting that its parent organisation, the IOA, had already aligned itself with the Sports Code.

It further rejected the argument that the National Sports Development Code was not applicable to the JKOA, observing that accepting such a plea would leave the Association in “archaic times” while the sporting talent of Jammu & Kashmir was keeping pace with the rest of the country.

The Court remarked that the JKOA could not remain with an “old fashioned crafted constitution which is yearning for its revision and upgradation”, observing that this was precisely the purpose served by the National Sports Development Code.

Court Stresses Constitutional Duty Towards Sportspersons

The bench placed the issue in the larger context of the rights and interests of sportspersons in the Union Territory.

Justice Bharti observed that the functioning of the JKOA was connected with the present and future of sportspersons and that the Court therefore had an obligation to ensure that the Association was administered in accordance with principles of transparency, professionalism and institutional integrity.

“This Court deems it as a constitutional duty to provide to the sports persons of the Union Territory of Jammu & Kashmir” an Olympic Association and affiliated sports bodies governed and managed in the spirit of the National Sports Development Code, the Court held. The Court accordingly declared that the impugned election process was conducted “in negation of the National Sports Development Code” and “null and void.”

Court Rejects Reliance On Pending Supreme Court Proceedings

The respondents had argued that the applicability of the National Sports Development Code remained subject to proceedings pending before the Supreme Court in Indian Olympic Association v. Union of India. The High Court rejected the contention, noting that the said proceedings had been tagged with All India Football Federation v. Rahul Mehra, which had subsequently culminated in the Supreme Court's judgment reported as 2025 INSC 1131.

The Court also rejected the contention that the election had acquired legitimacy because it was accepted by the IOA, observing that the IOA itself had aligned its functioning with the National Sports Development Code and therefore could not confer immunity upon its State affiliate to function contrary to that framework.

Two-Member Committee Appointed To Overhaul JKOA

Holding that the JKOA must first revise its constitutional framework and thereafter conduct elections, the Court appointed retired District & Sessions Judges Chain Lal Bavoria and Virender Singh Bhau as a two-member Committee of Administrators.

The Committee has been directed to take over the administration and management of the JKOA, undertake revision of its constitution in alignment with the IOA constitution and the National Sports Development Code, and thereafter conduct the election of office bearers and the Executive Committee.

The Court further directed all affiliated State Sports Associations in Jammu & Kashmir to fully cooperate with and comply with the directions issued by the Committee of Administrators. The writ petition was accordingly disposed of.

Case Title: Rajeev Sharma v. Union of India & Ors.

Citation: 2026 LiveLaw (JKL) 326

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