Himachal Pradesh High Court directs BFI to allow Thakur's nomination in its polls

Anurag Thakur, who is also a Lok Sabha MP from Hamirpur, was declared ineligible in a March 7 notification by BFI President Ajay Singh. The reason cited was that he was not an elected member of the Himachal Pradesh Boxing Association, which he was seeking to represent in the EC.

Shimla: Former sports minister Anurag Thakur's bid to contest the Boxing Federation of India's presidential election was brought back on track after the Himachal Pradesh High Court stayed his disqualification from the Electoral College and directed the BFI to extend the date of nominations to enable his candidature.

Thakur, who is also a Lok Sabha MP from Hamirpur, was declared ineligible in a March 7 notification by BFI President Ajay Singh. The reason cited was that he was not an elected member of the Himachal Pradesh Boxing Association, which he was seeking to represent in the EC.

However, Justice Ajay Mohan Goel on Thursday ruled that the Electoral College approved by Returning Officer R K Gauba on March 13, which left out Thakur, "is prima facie bad and not sustainable in law." "In this backdrop, balance of convenience is also in favour of the petitioners and if interim, as prayed for by the petitioners is not granted, then irreparable loss shall be caused to them," the order stated.

"...as an ad-interim measure, this Court stays the operation of Notice, dated 07.03.2025, as well as the rejection of nomination of one of the two nominated members...namely, Mr. Anurag Singh Thakur..." The court directed BFI to treat the names of Thakur and another HPBA official Rajesh Bhandari as "valid nomination for the Electoral College." It stated that the BFI President issued the March 7 order "without any authority and without any power".

The court order paved the way for Thakur to contest the polls scheduled on March 28 as it directed the BFI to "extend the last date of submission of nomination" to enable him to file his papers.

Thakur has also been permitted to represent Himachal Pradesh in the Annual General Meeting and "fully participate therein." HPBA has maintained that Thakur is an elected Executive Council member of the state unit and has served "in different capacities including Chairman".

The BFI elections have been significantly delayed and mired in endless controversy. The body was originally supposed to hold elections before February 2 but swung into action only after the IOA appointed an ad-hoc committee. The body challenged the move in Delhi High Court, which put a stay on the ad-hoc panel.

The Himachal Pradesh High Court's order comes a day after the Delhi High Court too stayed the March 7 order but allowed the election process to proceed as planned with the final outcome dependent on its decision on the plea filed by the Delhi Amateur Boxing Association.