The Delhi High Court has appointed a three-member committee to examine the complaints of the petitioner made against former national team coach Soumyadeep Roy and other officials of the Table Tennis Federation of India (TTFI).
A single-judge bench of Justice Rekha Palli appointed a committee of Justice Vikramjit Sen, Justice A.K. Sikri and former athlete Gurbachan Singh Randhawa. The court further stated that the prayer of Manika Batra seeking an administrator to be appointed for the administration of TTFI would be taken up at a later stage, if necessary.
The petition moved by Batra had sought the quashing of the Rules and Regulations titled “Rules and Regulations for National Camp” dated August 4, 2021, issued by the Table Tennis Federation of India (TTFI) whilst also seeking directions to the Union of India through the Ministry of Youth Affairs to enquire into the management of TTFI, the conduct of Soumyadeep Roy and other officials of TTFI.
The petition has alleged TTFI is carrying out its selection processes in a non-transparent manner, targeting certain individuals such as the petitioner and acting completely contrary to the interest of sports and sportspersons.
In the petition, Batra has made serious allegations against Soumyadeep Roy, National Coach, Women’s Table Tennis. According to the plea, Roy pressurized Batra to throw away a match only with a view to help one of his trainees at his private academy to qualify for Olympics 2020.
The petition says after the Olympics, TTFI issued Rules and Regulations dated August 4, 2021, informing Batra that attending of National Coaching Camp is compulsory, failing which she would not be selected for any upcoming international event.
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The petition claimed only the personal coach would know the strengths, weaknesses, skills, and areas which a player should focus and strengthen, however, these Rules do not permit any personal coach/support staff.
These latest developments come after the controversy at Tokyo Olympics, where Manika Batra had refused permission to Soumyadeep Roy to sit as her coach, during the singles event. The petition had been filed by Advocate Akshay Amritanshu and has been listed for further hearing on December 20, 2021.