The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has launched a Preliminary Investigation (PE) against Indian Olympic Association President Narinder Batra and unknown officials of Hockey India. Sources said that the PE has been started on the complaint received from the IOA itself. A CBI official said, “It was alleged that around Rs 35 lakh of Hockey India fund has been spent for the personal benefit of Dr. Narinder Batra.”
Narinder Batra is the head of the International Hockey Federation (FIH). He is the former Secretary General and President of Hockey India and has been heading the IOA since 2017. Elections to the Olympic Association were to be held in December last year, but the elections did not go as scheduled following a petition challenging its constituents in the Delhi High Court.
According to media reports, there is an administrative deadlock between the top office bearers of the association. Many people including Narinder Batra and General Secretary Rajeev Mehta are face to face. Recently there were reports of tussle between Narinder Batra and Hockey India. On March 29 this year, IOA treasurer Anandeshwar Pandey wrote a letter to Narinder Batra. In the letter, he had accused Narinder Batra of irregularities. It also sought a reply on the expenses on his office and the financial transactions of the company owned by him with Hockey India.
The letter said, ‘This is a follow-up to my yesterday’s letter regarding expenditure incurred on your office. You have kept silent and are not answering. The delay in the accounts is happening only because you are not providing the information requested by the IOA. I have come to know that a few days back the CBI officials had visited the IOA office and also inquired about your office on the second floor.
The letter also mentioned that the CBI had earlier also met Narinder Batra at the Hockey India office. “Is it true that Hockey India has confirmed that this amount has been spent by Hockey India on your office and not you, as you have always claimed,” the letter said.
Questioning the deal with Narinder Batra’s company, the letter asked, “How did the name of your private company Super Parts appear in the report of the internal auditor VK Bajaj & Co. Why a false attempt was made to cover up the role of Hockey India by creating false debt liability in favor of Super Parts Pvt Ltd. Why was IOA incurring financial loss? Only to hide the misuse of funds by Hockey India.’
Let us tell you that recently Narinder Batra had raised questions from Hockey India (HI) regarding the recent performance of India’s men’s hockey team and took a dig at it. After this interference of Narinder Batra, Olympian and member of the 1975 World Cup winning team Aslam Sher Khan raised questions on him.
Aslam Sher Khan had said that Narinder Batra is the President of International Hockey Federation. In such a situation, his interference in the work of Hockey India is a case of conflict of interest. He had said, ‘He cannot interfere in the National Federation while he is in this post. Aslam had challenged certain appointments in the HI in the Delhi High Court, including the appointment of Narinder Batra as a life member.
A few days ago, Narinder Batra wrote a letter to Hockey India. In this he Indian male Hockey He expressed displeasure over the performance of the team. Narinder Batra, in a letter to HI on February 15, had called the team’s performance unacceptable. Along with this, HI was asked about the reason for the poor performance of the team.
Narinder Batra had organized a class for Hockey India President Gyanandro Nigombam and other office bearers regarding the performance of the Indian team. He said in the letter that Tokyo Olympic He is concerned about the performance of the Indian team after winning the bronze medal in