HC issues notice to IOA in PIL against doping

The Delhi High Court on Tuesday issued notice to the Indian Olympic Assocation after impleading it as a party in a petition seeking direction to the Centre to frame rules and guidelines against doping by sports persons.

While issuing notice to the IOA, a division bench comprising Chief Justice Arijit Passayat and Justice D K Jain asked the petitioner to amend the memo of parties in his writ to include IOA's name.

The IOA was impleaded as a party in the case after Sports Authority of India counsel S Mukherjee said it is for the apex body to monitor the functioning of various sports federations in the country.

The court had earlier issued notices to the Ministry of Sports and SAI on a Public Interest Litigation by Health Fitness Trust, a private organisation.

Mukherjee told the court that at present the concerned federations of various sports are vested with the power to take action against players found guilty of doping and SAI's role is confined to providing them laboratory facilites.

To a specific query by the court, whether the information regarding players found guilty were sent to the Ministry, SAI counsel said, "Yes reports are given to it."

The query was made by the bench in the light of HFT's contention that the government did not monitor the doping cases.

HFT's health consultant, Dalbir Singh, arguing the case personally, said about 257 sportspersons had been found guilty during past nine years but no action was taken against them.