Battle of Hyderabad to decide Indian chess federation crown

Chennai: It is now going to be the battle of Hyderabad between the two factions in All India Chess Federation (AICF) -- one led by its President P.R. Venketrama Raja and the other by Secretary Bharat Singh Chauhan -- for the crown.

The Madras High Court on Tuesday ordered that election for the office bearers of the AICF be held in Hyderabad on February 10, and also extended the date of filing the nomination to February 6.

The elections can be convened and held in terms of the bye-laws and also as per the National Sports Development Code of 2011.

Originally, the general body meeting for February 10 was called by Raja in Chennai to elect new office bearers on December 18, 2019

The court also said if the Returning Officer -- retired Supreme Court Justice Fakkir Mohamed Ibrahim Kallifula -- is of the view that it is not convenient to have the Special General Body meeting on February 10, then a new date, time and venue may be decided by him independently.

In such a case, the Returning Officer shall send fresh notices to all the members of the AICF general body indicating the new date, time and the venue.

The court also said if there was any dispute with regard to the nomination to represent the various associations in the general body, the same shall be determined by the Returning Officer.

The order also said the nominations made by various state associations for attending the general body meeting on February 9 (called by Chauhan for electing new officer bearers) may be considered by the Returning Officer for attending the meeting the next day.

The court said the AICF should pay the Returning Officer Kallifula a fee of Rs five lakh apart from other expenses.

The court gave the verdict in an appeal filed by Chauhan against the single judge judgement on January 28 to hold the general body and election in Chennai.