Kalmadi moves court to attend London Olympics

Sacked CWG Organising Committee chairman Suresh Kalmadi, accused in a games-related graft case, sought a Delhi court's permission to attend the 2012 Olympics in London.

In his plea to Special CBI Judge Talwant Singh, Kalmadi said he is a member of International Association of Athletics Federation (IAAF) Council and sought permission to go to the United Kingdom for the games from July 26 to August 13.

"Applicant (Kalmadi), in his capacity, as a member of the IAAF Council and as president of Asian Athletics Association (AAA), is required to attend certain meetings, conferences and matters of the IAAF during the London 2012 Olympics from July 26 to August 13," Kalmadi said in his application.

The court, which is hearing arguments on framing of charges against the accused, listed the plea for Friday.

The Lok Sabha MP and 10 others have been charge-sheeted by the CBI under various provisions of the IPC and the Prevention of Corruption Act for allegedly "illegally" awarding contract to install Timing, Scoring and Results (TSR) system for the 2010 Commonwealth Games to Swiss Timing, causing a loss of over Rs 90 crore to the exchequer.

He also placed on record the invitation from IAAF Council and the general programme schedule of the Olympics and details of travel ticket sent to him by the association's General Secretary Essar Gabriel.

"Therefore, the applicant is hereby seeking permission of this court to travel abroad for this purpose," he said.

Seeking court's permission for exemption from personal appearance, Kalmadi said he was willing to abide by any condition imposed by it.

Earlier in April this year, Kalmadi and former OC Secretary General Lalit Bhanot were allowed by the court to visit Kazakhstan to attend a meeting of 73rd Asian Athletics Association (AAA) Council.

Besides Kalmadi, former OC Secretary General Lalit Bhanot, the other nine accused in the case are CWG OC's Director General V K Verma, Director General (Procurement) Surjit Lal, Joint Director General (Sports) A S V Prasad and Treasurer M Jayachandran. They are no more associated with the sporting body.

Photograph: Ian Walton/Getty Images